Using Indicators on Alcohol and Drug Abuse to Galvanize Community Action

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Using Indicators on Alcohol and Drug Abuse to
Galvanize Community Action
Conference of the Community Indicators
Consortium Applied Survey Research Susan
Brutschy, President December 2005
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Community Assessment Methodology
Community
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Community Assessment Project

• Data Content Areas
• Economy
• Education
• Health
• Public safety
• Social environment
• Natural environment
• Sources
• Secondary (pre-existing) data
• Primary (original) data

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Substance Abuse by Students (1994)Use in Last 30
Days
Santa Cruz County
California
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
Assessment Project,Year 11, 2005. California
Healthy Kids Survey, 2005. California State
Survey, 2005.
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Together for Youth

• Variety of partners
• Youth
• Non-profits
• Law Enforcement
• Health care professionals
• News media
• Elected officials

• Educators
• Cultural and ethnic groups
• Courts
• Drug prevention and treatment organizations
• Staff of parks and recreation

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Together for Youth

• Seven Essential Components
• Increasing Knowledge and Raising Awareness
• Building Skills and Competencies of Individuals
  and Families
• Increasing Involvement in Alcohol and Drug-Free
  Healthy Alternatives
• Increasing Access Through Early Identification,
  Intervention Services, and Referrals
• Changing Social Policies
• Enforcing Regulations, Ordinances and Laws
• Increasing the Communitys Ability and Commitment
  to Respond to Alcohol and Drug Problems

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Together for Youth

• The Results
• New alcohol laws and ordinances enacted
• Shoulder-tap law Santa Cruz City
• Grand Jury Testimony and Recognition of TFY/UPNJ
  as best practice
• Two new Teen Centers one in San Lorenzo Valley
  and one in City of Santa Cruz
• Advocacy for Tyler House, a teen residential
  treatment center
• Advocacy for Above the Line, housing and training
  for homeless youth
• Published Policy Panel on Youth Access to Alcohol
  recommendations
• Linkages to other initiatives for youth

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Alcohol Abuse by Students(1994-2002)Use in Last
30 Days
Santa Cruz County
California
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
Assessment Project,Year 11, 2005. California
Healthy Kids Survey, 2005. California State
Survey, 2005.
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Marijuana Use by Students (1994-2002)Use in
Last 30 Days
Santa Cruz County
California
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
Assessment Project,Year 11, 2005. California
Healthy Kids Survey, 2005. California State
Survey, 2005.
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Substance Abuse by Students, Santa Cruz County
(2002-04)Use in Last 30 Days
2002
2004
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
Assessment Project,Year 11, 2005. California
Healthy Kids Survey, 2005. California State
Survey, 2005.
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Binge Drinking (2004)
Santa Cruz County
California
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
United to Reduce Binge Drinking Santa Cruz
County Needs Assessment, 2005 California Healthy
Kids Survey, 2005. California State Survey, 2005.
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How Many Times During the Last Two Weeks UCSC
Student Had Binged
2003 N 341 2004 N 339
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
United to Reduce Binge Drinking Santa Cruz
County Needs Assessment, 2005 California Healthy
Kids Survey, 2005. California State Survey, 2005.
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Perception that Alcohol is Fairly Easy to Very
Easy to Obtain (2004)
Santa Cruz County
California
Source Applied Survey Research, Community
United to Reduce Binge Drinking Santa Cruz
County Needs Assessment, 2005 California Healthy
Kids Survey, 2005. California State Survey, 2005.
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Intervention Strategies

• Youth-driven Destroy the Bottle campaign
• TV advertisements
• Videos
• Community trainings
• Promotion of responsible retail sales
• Responsible Merchant Award
• Public Policy Advocacy

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Continued Indicator Component ASR surveys

• Youth to youth survey
• ASR will train youth to interview other youth
• Has IRB approval
• Key informant interviews of policy makers,
  community leaders, faith leaders, and educators
• Community-wide telephone survey of perceptions
  and knowledge of binge drinking
• Retailer telephone survey
• Survey of the effectiveness of the CURB
  collaborative

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Overall Goal

• Reduce binge drinking by 50 for those ages 16-20

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Key Aspects

• Community-wide indicator projects reveal crucial
  data about your community
• Lead agency
• Community partners
• Youth participation
• Cultural competency
• Diverse groups

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How ASR Assisted in this Project

• ASR worked with Together for Youth and with CURB
  to help focus on primary outcomes and indicators
• ASR created a logic model to show that partners
  shared similar outcomes
• ASR is a partner in tracking the indicators and
  outcomes to measure improvement

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Success of This Process

• Bringing partners together
• Determining crucial shared outcomes
• Determining key indicators
• Developing a plan to turn the curve in communities

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Conclusion

• Community Results Based Action Requires
• Partnership accountability
• Participation with youth
• Flexibility
• Patience!

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To Learn More

• Applied Survey Research
• www.appliedsurveyresearch.org
• Fiscal Policy Studies Institute
• www.resultsaccountability.com

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