"absolutely free since 1979"

Communities That Care (CTC) is a coalition-based prevention system that engages community members to set priorities based on community challenges and strengths for the development of healthy futures for youth.

CTC is a program of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and was also selected by the U.S. Justice Department.

Communities That Care (CTC) is a coalition-based prevention operating system that uses a public health approach to prevent youth problem behaviors by empowering communities to gather at the grass-roots level in order to both enhance positive youth development and reduce risk factors.

CTC provides a structure for engaging community stakeholders, a process for establishing a shared community vision, tools for assessing levels of risk and protection in communities, and processes for prioritizing risk and protective factors and setting specific, measureable community goals.

Collaborative. CTC uses a coalition approach to address issues at the community level. The coalition will include a diverse group of stakeholders concerned with youth development (youth-serving agency staff, school representatives, health professionals, city leaders, law enforcement, United Way, other funding entities, neighborhood groups, business people, parents, media representatives, faith community members, youth, etc.) in applying prevention science principles to decisions affecting the community’s youth.

It engages all community members who have a stake in healthy futures for young people and sets priorities for action based on community challenges and strengths.

Proactive. Rather than reacting to problems once they have already occurred, CTC focuses on strengthening protections and decreasing risks in order to promote healthy youth development and decrease the likelihood of problem behaviors.

Science based. CTC is grounded in rigorous research from a variety of disciplines, including public health, sociology, psychology, criminology, and community psychology. This research has identified the predictors of youth problem behaviors, developed epidemiologic assessment tools for measuring those predictors in a community, and tested programs that work in addressing those predictors.

Data driven. The CTC system ensures local control of decisions based on local data and needs assessments, and flexibility to implement actions specific to the priorities identified by community members.

CTC’s theory of change hypothesizes that it takes from 2 to 5 years to observe community-level effects on risk factors, and 5 or more years to observe effects on adolescent delinquency or substance use.

CTC has clear, measurable outcomes are tracked over time to show progress and ensure accountability.    

The target population is all of Midland County.

Focus areas of this program are ages 10- 14, 15-20, & Adults 21-60

            1) Youth 15 and up                             (zero tolerance for driving, consequences of underage drinking)

            2) Youth 14 and below                       (social norms change, image, tobacco prevention)

            3) Adult providers                              (laws, consequences)

            4) Parents                                           (communication, setting a positive example)

            5) 6- 12th grade students (SOAR)     (students at risk for substance abuse alcohol or other behaviors)

      Primary characteristics include:

§   Increase of community awareness of the negative consequences of local underage drinking, tobacco and illicit drug abuse.

§   Reduce the number of youth who have driven while or after drinking alcohol

§   Reduce the number of youth who plan to use alcohol in the future

§   Increase family communication concerning underage drinking, tobacco and illicit drug abuse

§   Reduce the number of adults illegally providing alcohol to minors

§   Change the community’s norms, attitudes and policies concerning underage drinking, tobacco and illicit drug abuse 

The Midland Community Coalition is currently collaborating with health and human service professionals representing more 90 different local organizations to conduct a Community Needs Assessment and to evaluate our community’s strengths and challenges in the health and human service arena.

Through the Communities That Care model the Coalition has implemented, developed or enhanced the following programs to meet the identified needs from the assessments:

      Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA)

      Drug Free Youth in Texas (D-FY-IT)

      Extreme Youth Leadership Action Training (EYLAT)

      Teens in Charge (TIC)

      Tobacco Prevention Control Coalition (TPCC)

      Student Outreach and Recovery (SOAR)

Student Outreach and Recovery (SOAR) continues to provide prevention education, group sessions, and individual counseling sessions to students in Midland County. SOAR uses team building activities, prevention presentations and education focused on teaching life skills, decision making, and refusal skills to help students live drug free lives.

The Midland Community Coalition also collaborates with the Regional Planning Commission and the       Region 9 Education Resource Center to conduct a Regional Needs Assessment which includes Midland County.

Recent accomplishments: Survey results comparing 2005 to 2008:

                                                Past 30 Days               Past Year                     Lifetime Drug Use

                                                2005    2008                2005    2008                2005    2008  

Alcohol                                   37 %    31%                 55 %    51%                 64 %     58%

Cigarettes                                23 %    15%                 32 %    24%                 40 %     31%

Smokeless Tobacco                 15 %    8%                   23 %    15%                 30 %     19%

            The Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior Student Survey was conducted in Combined High Schools in Spring of 2005 and compared to 2008, utilizing the Texas Prevention Impact Index. The estimated reliability demonstrated by student response on this survey was 96%  2005 – The sample population in the Combined High Schools was made up of 867 students.  53% of the students were male and 47% of them were female. Grade levels sampled were 9-12th grades.   2008 - The sample population was made up of 1,937 students.  51% of the students were male and 49% of them were female.  Grade levels sampled were 6-12th.

“More people die, become ill, dependent or are disabled from using alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs than from any other preventable behavior.”

Alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana were the most widely abused substances by young people in Texas.

Among the risk factors for substance abuse in the individual domain are a lack of knowledge about the negative consequences associated with using illegal substances, attitudes favorable toward use, early onset of use, biological or psychological dispositions, antisocial behavior, sensation seeking, and lack of adult supervision (Bry, 1983; Hawkins et al., 1992; Scheier & Newcomb, 1991).

Research has shown that social and personal skills building can enhance individual capacities, influence attitudes, and promote behavior inconsistent with use. These interventions usually include information about the negative effects of substance use (Bell, Ellickson, & Harrison, 1993; Botvin, Baker, Dusenbury, Botvin, & Diaz, 1995; Ellickson, Bell, & McGuigan, 1993; Hansen, 1996; Pentz et al., 1990; Schinke & Cole, 1995; Tobler, 1986, 1992).

Youth who believed substances were dangerous to use were less likely to use them.

There is an increasing need to provide current, research-based, proven effective education and prevention youth services and a lack of program providers to do so.

There is a greater need to mobilize community stakeholders to leverage resources and begin environmental change to reduce underage drinking, substance abuse and illicit drug abuse through sustained efforts in prevention, recovery, education, and enforcement.

As PDAP continues to build a stronger community, where Midlanders raise healthy families, we continue to leverage resources and consolidate our existing programs and projects.

Over the years our Prevention Department has implemented numerous projects through the Midland Community Coalition, which formed in 2002. This proactive community education and prevention partnership is not a new program however the Communities That Care (CTC) model is a new coalition-based prevention operating system that uses a public health approach to prevent youth problem behaviors by empowering communities to gather at the grass-roots level in order to both enhance positive youth development and reduce risk factors.

CTC was chosen because it is a research based, proven effective program of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in the office of the United States Government’s Substance and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and was also selected by the U.S. Justice Department as a model to assist communities in developing comprehensive juvenile violence prevention strategies.

CTC was also chosen because it engages all community members who have a stake in healthy futures for young people and sets priorities for action based on community challenges and strengths.

Current 2009-10 projects under this model may include:

            Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol

            Drug Free Youth in Texas

            Teens in Charge Youth Leadership Project

            Tobacco Prevention & Cessation

      Student Outreach and Recovery

      Project Graduation (In process)

      Celebration Midland JuneTeenth Event

      National Red Ribbon Week

      Town Hall & Policy Forums on Underage Drinking

      Alternative Activities for Midland Students

      Youth Leadership Scholarships

      Alcohol Awareness Week

      Professional Training for Adults

      Media Events

      Celebration Midland New Years Event

      Youth Leadership Action Training

      Business opportunities to support students leading drug free lives

      Celebration Midland Volunteer Appreciation Event

As the demand for youth services youth grow, the provision for current, research-based, proven effective prevention and education services should also increase.