Southwest district health partnerships for success - the purpose of the southwest district health partnerships for success grant (PFS) is to improve positive outcomes for youth mental health and…

Southwest district health partnerships for success - the purpose of the southwest district health partnerships for success grant (PFS) is to improve positive outcomes for youth mental health and reduce and prevent youth substance use in the southwest district health (SWDH) region. SWDH has identified rural youth, aged 10-19 as the priority population for this work, and youth alcohol, marijuana, and stimulant use as the priority topic areas based off regional data. This work will be achieved by implementing the evidence-based icelandic prevention model (IPM) to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors in multiple communities. Additional work will focus on increasing regional youth substance use prevention capacity by providing trainings, evidence-informed prevention curricula, projects, and youth, parent, and community education. The first goal of this project is to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors that contribute to youth substance initiation and use of alcohol, marijuana, and stimulants through implementing the IPM in rural communities. SWDH will partner with an experienced team at boise state university who will assist with implementing the model which includes annual data collection, data analysis to identify local risk and protective factors, and presentation of results to the community. The measurable project objectives focus on building prevention capacity in communities, developing locally led workgroups to address identified risk and protective factors, developing and implementing local action plans with strategies to address factors, and building sustainability to continue the work. Accordingly, the first two communities that will implement the IPM through the support of the PFS grant are the parma school district and the marsing school district. This data-driven, community-specific project will allow a locally led workgroup to address the priority risk and protective factors that emerge from the local data collection. Both communities have committed to participating in this project as IT will enhance their ability to support their youth and grow their pre-established prevention efforts. In addition to implementing the IPM, the PFS grant's second goal is to increase district wide capacity to prevent youth (10-19) use of alcohol, marijuana, and stimulants by providing trainings, evidence-informed prevention curricula and projects, and youth, parent, and community education. This goal aims to support prevention education and resources reaching regional communities who are not participating in the IPM implementation. Measurable objectives include reaching each county served with opportunities for funding for approved prevention projects, training, and education, and resources. By providing support through mini-grant opportunities, training, and educational and awareness activities, communities across the region can lead their own prevention efforts. This will result in increased readiness to engage in comprehensive environmental prevention techniques, like the IPM. Through supporting these communities in their work, SWDH will identify additional communities to implement the IPM starting after year 2 of the grant. Through achieving these goals, the SWDH PFS program will build trust, provide guidance, and support communities across the region in increasing capacity to facilitate locally led prevention efforts. This program anticipates serving approximately 1,500 individuals (students, parents, and community members) directly or indirectly each year of the grant, with a total estimated reach of at least 3,500 individuals over the 5 year project.