Prevention Board

     The Prevention Board guides the assessment of community needs, prioritizes risk and protective factors, and implements the community action plan to positively impact local youth development.  The Prevention Board is reflective of broad representation from community stakeholder groups including education, law enforcement, government, parents, the faith community, the business community, media, youth, and health and human service agencies.  The Prevention Board serves to:

• Continuously reassess local problem behaviors and risk and protective factors
• Develop, implement, and evaluate the community action plan and prevention strategy with defined and measurable outcomes
• Sustain the commitment to the community vision
• Identify and secure infrastructure and programming resources
• Raise awareness of Centre County Communities That Care® efforts and  involve community stakeholders
• Guide the prevention strategy and participate in collective decision making as outlined in the by-laws

 

Advisory Committees

Data and Impact Assessment Committee

• Works to facilitate the administration and implementation of the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS)
• Collects archival and supplemental community data as needed
• Collects risk and protective factor data for analysis
• Reports on the collected and analyzed data and aids the Prevention Board in the prevention strategy prioritization process
• Designs and implements the evaluation of the community action and prevention strategy plan
• Contributes to the evaluation of programming and outreach efforts
• Assesses the effectiveness of the Centre County Communities That Care® process

Resource Assessment and Sustainability Committee

• Inventories and creates a list and/or map of community resources
• Assesses existing resources, community programs, policies, and practices that address the community’s identified risk and protective factor priorities to determine their effectiveness and to identify opportunities for enhancement and collaboration
• Identifies gaps in the current community response to risk and protective factor priorities in preparation for selecting tested, effective programs, policies, and practices
• Develops a long-term funding plan for the implementation of tested, effective programs that address local risk and protective factors
• Identifies funding needs and manages the acquisition of public and private funds for the implementation and evaluation of selected programs
• Identifies local resources that can contribute financial or in-kind support for the collaborative infrastructure, including the Mobilizer and Prevention Coordinator positions
• Identifies funding for PAYS administration and continued data collection
• Identifies grant opportunities and assists in the development of grant applications
• Researches and assists in the implementation of fundraising activities
• Identifies and fosters communication with potential funders

Community Outreach and Public Relations Committee

• Promotes the Centre County Communities That Care® process
• Identifies opportunities to educate the community about the Centre County Communities That Care® effort
• Identifies opportunities to involve community members and stakeholders, including other prevention and youth development coalitions and collaboratives
• Updates the Prevention Board about the work of the committees
• Assists in preparing and disseminating press releases, documents, newsletters, and communications
• Works with the media to keep the Centre County Communities That Care® effort in public view
• Maintains contact with key stakeholders
• Identifies opportunities to announce the outcomes of efforts, to promote the benefits of the Centre County Communities That Care® process, and to publicly acknowledge collaborative successes
• Develops and maintains a distribution list for mailings, newsletters, data reports, and community assessments

Board Engagement Committee

• Builds and sustains a healthy and effective community board
• Develops a process for recruiting and educating new Prevention Board members
• Coordinates team building and recognition activities
• Assists with the coordination of annual retreats and special Prevention Board activities and educational trainings
• Identifies and fosters the involvement and connection with local community members
• Fosters parental involvement

Youth Involvement

• Identifies diverse roles for young people in Centre County Communities That Care® activities and programming and all aspects of the Communities That Care® effort
• Identifies existing youth groups and ways to involve them in the Centre County Communities That Care® effort
• Recruits youth to serve on the Prevention Board and to participate in work groups, activities, and programming
• Identifies skills and training needed by local young people and coordinates skills development
• Identifies and implements appropriate opportunities to recognize youth
• Solicits youth input into community assessments, risk and protective factor prioritization, prevention strategies, and programming and outreach efforts