Centre County Communities That Care® was initiated in April of 1999 when a Community Building Task Force of parents, school officials, youth professionals, ministerium, and community leaders was brought together to address youth violence concerns.  The task force organized under the Communities That Care® model, which has been operating in Pennsylvania since 1994 under the Governor’s Partnership for Safe Children.  Over 128 sites across the state originally utilized the CTC model to organize community planning and to implement research-based programming aimed at preventing adolescent problem behaviors such as drug and alcohol usage, teen pregnancy, school drop-out, delinquency, and violence.

     Centre County Communities That Care® received implementation funding through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) in 2001 and has since completed a community needs assessment, conducted Pennsylvania Youth Surveys (PAYS) in Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, and Penns Valley school districts, identified risk and protective factors, and implemented scientifically proven prevention programming supported by SAMHSA and The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV).  Centre County CTC® continues to administer the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) every two years, in partnership with the Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, and Penns Valley School Districts, to reassess risk factors directly from local youth.  The data findings are utilized to drive the collaboratives’ prevention strategies and to implement effective, research-based programming for youth and families in Centre County.  To date, Centre County Communities That Care® has implemented Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS), Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, Project Towards No Drug Abuse, Life Skills Program, Parents Who Care, and the Strengthening Families Program.