DEL NORTE—Rio Grande Prevention Partners hosted the first Community Leader Orientation on Friday at the Windsor Hotel in Del Norte. The orientation marks the beginning of the second phase, “Get Organized,” of the five-phase Communities that Care (CTC) program. The community leaders are key stakeholders throughout Rio Grande County who will play an important role in selecting and implementing youth substance abuse prevention programs. Attendees included school counselors, parents, faith leaders, representatives of local healthcare networks and leadership from the Rio Grande Public Health and Social Services departments, among others. The orientation was co-facilitated by Rio Grande Prevention Coordinator Nancy Molina and Rio Grande County Public Health Nurse Susan Cullen (tobacco prevention coordinator).
The purpose of the orientation was to establish the purpose and research methods that the Communities that Care Program utilize in order to accomplish their goals of “creating positive changes for communities and kids” and “preventing youth health & behavior problems.” The CTC process will only use programs that are data-driven and proven to be effective prevention methods backed by over 30 years of research from the University of Washington. There are over 40 CTC communities in the state of Colorado, in varying stages of the program and five counties in the San Luis Valley are currently in the early stages of the program: Rio Grande, Saguache, Mineral, Alamosa and Costilla.
The community leaders were introduced to the concepts driving Prevention Science and what sets these programs apart from other previous prevention programs and methods. Prevention Science based programs are “proactive, not reactive” according to Cullen. Prevention Science breaks away from the reactionary methods  that discourage substance use after the problem use has been established for methods that get ahead of the current and potential substance abuse and behavioral problems and “change the trajectory” for local youth by identifying and reducing risk factors while enhancing protective factors in the community using tested and effective programs.
Risk factors, as defined by the Communities that Care program, meet the following criteria: “1. exist in every domain of a child’s life 2. are present across development 3. predict multiple problems 4. operate similarly across racial groups and regions 5. vary across communities 6. are buffered by protective factors 7. can be measured.” The risk factors are divided into four different domains: “community, family, school and individual/peer.” The problem behavior/health issues that these factors put youth at risk for include “substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school dropout, violence and depression & anxiety.” An example is the community risk factor, “availability of drugs” which raises the risk for youth to exhibit “substance abuse” and “violence.” An example of a “family” factor is “family conflict” which puts youth at risk for “substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school dropout, violence and depression & anxiety.” The risk factors in the Rio Grande community will be determined by the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which will be conducted in all of the school districts later this semester. The survey is conducted and analyzed by the University of Colorado at Denver.
The orientation also focused on the need to balance out risk factors with protective factors already present in the community, school, family and individuals. Protective risk factors are built up by using the Social Development Strategy. This strategy uses the foundation of clear standards, bonding and acknowledging the individual characteristics of the involved youth, while providing them with opportunities, skills and recognition to keep them on the path to healthy behaviors.
 The community leaders participated in a “Prevention Paradox” activity, where they were asked “In Our community, should we focus on: a. those young people most at risk or b. the risks present in the largest number of children in our community?” The CTC model reinforces universal prevention methods to most efficiently achieve community-wide effects. Molina presented a study of reported 18-year old binge drinkers. 25.2 percent of 18-year-olds reported binge drinking, 18.8 percent of those had only 0-4 potential risk factors present, and 6.4 percent of those had 5-8 risk factors present. Three out of four binge drinkers came from youth that had been identified as low risk. Additionally, the CTC process discourages “delinquency training” or putting lots of high-risk youth together in prevention groups, because it’s not effective.
After the community leaders complete the rest of the orientation process, Rio Grande Prevention Partners will move on to phase three of the CTC program, “Develop a Community Profile.” This phase will involve analyzing data from the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey and identifying the risk and protective factors in our community. The community leaders and key leaders will select tested and effective prevention programs and strategies to minimize the effects of the risk factors and maximize the protective factors. CTC has several programs, geared toward meeting these goals and taking into consideration the population size of the area, that have trainings and materials readily available. These phases will also involve the leadership of the RGPP Youth Councils which are already active in Del Norte and Monte Vista high schools.