Eactc stop act grant 2023 - elizabethtown area communities that care (eactc) has served the elizabethtown community for 24 years, developing partnerships throughout the immediate community and the…

Eactc stop act grant 2023 - elizabethtown area communities that care (eactc) has served the elizabethtown community for 24 years, developing partnerships throughout the immediate community and the county. Located in the northwestern corner of lancaster county, elizabethtown's distance from the lancaster county seat and its rural nature pose challenges to community members in accessing critical social services. As a result of lack of access to and presence of services in elizabethtown, community-wide health disparities have developed. In implementing the communities that care (CTC) research-based process of community change, elizabethtown has developed a well-established, broad-based coalition of key leaders and stakeholders that regularly collect local data on risk/protective factors and support the implementation of strategies and programs that reduce adolescent behavioral problems. Eactc plans to utilize the strategies and community partnerships that have been developed over the coalition's twenty-four year history to prevent and reduce alcohol use among youth and to change the culture regarding the acceptability of youth use. Eactc will engage more coalition members, parents, and community partners that are racially and ethnically diverse in developing an action plan using the SPF to enhance prevention initiatives and implement culturally responsive strategies. Eactc will enhance programs/materials to address the needs of diverse youth using an evidence-based social norms campaign model (montana state positive cultural norms framework), engage in town hall style meetings with youth and adults (samhsa communities talk), coordinate with partners fostering intergovernmental collaborations including the elizabethtown magisterial court, national guard counterdrug task force, lancaster county drug and alcohol commission, and multiple police jurisdictions on the issue of alcohol use among youth and young adults, increase diverse student participation in eactc programs and in student leadership roles by 20%, disseminate state of the art materials through a community education campaign (samhsa talk. They hear you), expand the focus of the positive social norms campaign to include messaging that has been pilot tested with diverse audiences to VET messages and visuals to ensure that health messages represent and appeal to a wide variety of students (including bipoc students), and launch a new research and evidence informed program for court involved youth (safe project connections program). This project will dramatically increase the coalition's effectiveness at addressing underage drinking in the community through a more culturally conscious and responsive approach.