Sherman Prevention

Sherman County Drug-free Communities - Project Abstract Sherman County Drug Free Communities Is a Five-year Project Focused on the Reduction of Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among Youth in Sherman County Nebraska. the Project Will Be Coordinated and Implemented by the Sherman County Prevention Coalition (SCPC). SCPC Began Working With Youth, Their Families and the Community in 1997. SCPC Is a Growing, Adaptive Organization That Strives to Meet the Needs of Youth in Our Five Communities and Beyond. SCPC Believes in Utilizing Quantitative and Qualitative Data to Annually Determine a Work-plan That Will Allow Us to Provide Evidence-based Programs That Address Youth Issues Using a Trauma Informed Philosophy. the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Has Developed the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) Planning Model. by Applying the SPF, We Are Able to Assess Issues and Community Conditions, Mobilize and Build Capacity to Change the Conditions and Address the Issues, Plan and Develop a Work-plan, Implement Action With Multiple Objectives, Strategies and Activities and Evaluate Our Efforts Before Beginning the Process All Over Again. We Continue With These Five Steps While Always Keeping Culture Competency and Sustainability at the Core of What We Do. the Steps Are of No Use If We Are Not Inclusive and Don’t Always Look for Ways to Sustain the Work We Are Doing. Through Collaboration With a Wide Variety of Community Stakeholders, the Sherman County DFC Project Will Create Change Using Evidence-based Prevention Programs That Target Individual, Family and Community-level Risk and Protective Factors. We Strive to Reduce Factors That Increase the Risk of Substance Abuse While We Reinforce and Strengthen Factors That Serve to Protect the Youth From the Early Onset of Substance Use and Abuse. We Are Partnered With Champions in Each of the Following Sectors: Youth, Parents, Business Leaders, the Media, Schools, Youth Serving Organizations, Religious Organizations, Law Enforcement, Civic and Volunteer Groups, Healthcare Professionals, Government Funded Substance Abuse Prevention Agencies, and Organizations Addressing Substance Abuse, the Area Affected by This Project Will Be the Five Communities of Sherman County, Nebraska: Litchfield, Rockville, Hazard, Ashton and Loup City. Sherman County Covers 572 SQ. Miles of Rural Nebraska. the Purpose of the Sherman County DFC Is to Reduce the Use of Alcohol and Marijuana Among Youth and Over Time, Reduce Substance Use by Adults by Addressing the Risk and Protective Factors in the Community. We Do So by Offering Evidence Based Programs Using the Seven Strategies for Community-level Change. Those Strategies Include: Providing Information About Youth Substance Use, Enhancing Skills So Youth/adults Can Engage in Positive Social Situations and Increase Decision Making Skills, Providing Support to Increase Opportunities That Reduce Risk or Enhance Protection From Substance Use/abuse, Enhancing Access, Reducing Barriers and Improving Connections Between Systems and Services That Help Prevent Youth Substance Use, Changing Consequences to Incentivize Positive Practices and Dis-incentivize Negative Practices, Changing the Physical Design of the Community to Reduce the Risk and Enhance the Protection Against Youth Substance Use, Educating and Informing the Community About Modifying or Changing Policies That Reduce Access and Availability to Substances Among Youth. the Outcomes of the Sherman County DFC Project Will Be Reduced Substance Youth Among Youth, Leading to Reduced Substance Use by Adults Which in Turn Will Help to Create a Healthier, More Successful Community.