United Way of Indiana County's Communities That Care Update

United Way of Indiana County's

Prevention Coalition Quarterly Update

"If you control resources, shape opinions, and care about young people, your efforts are critically important." - J. David Hawkins

October, 2022

Key Leader Meeting Held

June 3, 2022

Some 30 key leaders met at IUP on a Friday morning in June to kick-start Indiana County's Communities That Care (CTC) Prevention Coalition.

The orientation was for what the CTC and the United Way call "key leaders." Key leaders provide guidance, promote the CTC model throughout the community, help make decisions and provide information and resources that will support the evidence-based programming.

In the first phase of CTC, community and key leaders assessed readiness, decided to bring CTC into the community, identified a diverse group of stakeholders to get involved, and committed to providing support, resources and guidance to the coalition.

United Way of Indiana County Holds

Prevention Coalition Orientation

The work of installing, implementing and evaluating CTC happens in phases 2 - 5. The Prevention Coalition met on September 22 to begin phase 2 at the Human Service Building in Indiana.

The coalition received a warm welcome from Jane Lockard-Clawson, Executive Director of the United Way, and CTC Community Champion and IASD Superintendent, Mike Vuckovich. 24 coalition members spent the next hour and 30 minutes learning about prevention science, risk and protective factors and tested and effective programs by the presenters, Jen Villa, UWIC Community Engagement Coordinator, and Jeff Hogan, Systems Change Specialist, from Evidence-based Prevention and Intervention Support (EPIS) out of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at PSU.

34 individuals have stepped up to participate in the coalition and they represent all 7 school districts and 25 different providers from Indiana County. Members are set to attend 3 more orientation meetings scheduled in October and November before breaking off into workgroups to develop a community profile, create a plan and implement and evaluate the programs that the coalition decides upon.

Coalition members were asked to share 1 - 2 words that describe our community:

WHAT THE COALITION LEARNED:

PREVENTION SCIENCE

focuses on the development of evidence-based strategies that reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities.

Risk Factors

Risk factors occur in the following domains of a child's life:

peer/individual
family
school
community

Risk factors predict multiple health and behavior problems, operate similarly across racial groups and regions but vary across communities. They are buffered by protective factors and can be measured.

The health and behavior problems predicted by risk factors are:

substance use
delinquency
teen pregnancy
school dropout
violence
depression and anxiety

Protective Factors

Protective factors are characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of negative outcomes or that reduce a risk factor's impact. Protective factors can be seen as positive countering events.

Examples of protective factors are:

Community involvement
Strong family relationships
Neighborhood organization
Social supports
Pro-social adult guidance
Access to services

Reducing risk and increasing protection work hand-in-hand in the CTC model. By doing both, you provide the best opportunity for the youth in the community.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

The social development strategy is a part of the foundation of CTC. It is a strategy for organizing protective factors into action by providing opportunities, skills, recognition, bonding and healthy behavior standards to promote positive youth development. Think about the ways that you could give the youth in your community the components of the social development strategy:

Opportunities
Skills
Recognition
Bonding
Standards for Healthy Behavior

TESTED AND EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS

Key Leaders

Kami Anderson

Patricia Berezansky

Tammy Calderone

Jess Cunningham

Darrin Mikula

Mike Drew

Jennifer Eckels

Robert Fyock

Mark Hilliard

Daren Johnston

Robert Manzi

Chad Martin

Brigette Matson

Mark McGowan

Brian Nalepa

Wendy Newcomer

Tim Runge

Justin Schawl

Charles Spadafora Jr.

Lisa Spencer

Jason Stepp

Jim Struzzi

Glenn Thompson

Christian Vaccaro

Michael Vuckovich

Veronica Watson

Stan Webb

Clint Weimer

Curtis Whitesel

Prevention Coalition Members

Kathy Abbey-Baker

Kami Anderson

Patricia Berezansky

Whitney Carmichael

Jess Clark

Kristin Curci

Carrie Cowie

Jim Decker

Jessica Dinger

Maria Ellenberger

Michelle Faught

Candace Flanders

Josh Giuliano

Donna Griffith

Dana Henry

Daren Johnson

Stephanie Keppich

Belinda Lambie

Robert Manzi

Megan Miller

Melanie Mock

Kathy Monko

Eric Neal

Jill Northey

Kalani Palmer

Justin Schake

Sarah Schroth

Eric Slovinsky

Lisa Snyder

Lisa Spencer

Jason Stepp

Emily Versace

James Wagner

Vicki Weaver

Justin Zahorchak

Childrens' Advisory Commission

Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug & Alcohol Commission United School District

Alice Paul House

The CARE Center

Homer Center School District

Adagio Health/WIC

Indiana County Probation Office

Indiana County Head Start

Evergreen After School Club

Indiana County Community Action Program

The Salvation Army Indiana Worship and Service Center

Community Guidance Center

Former Director UWIC Indiana County

Center For Economic Operations

Penns Manor School District

Communications & Media/University College at IUP

Purchase Line School District

Attorney's Office

The Open Door

IRMC Physician Group Social Services

River Valley School District

YMCA

Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug & Alcohol Commission Professional Studies in Education at IUP

Indiana Gazette

ARIN IU 28

Indiana Borough Police Department

JusticeWorks YouthCare, Inc.

Indiana County Department of Human Services

Indiana Gazette

Chevy Chase Community Center

Former Director ARIN IU 28

Children & Youth Services

IASD

Coalition members were asked to share what makes them proud of the youth in our community:

Next Steps:

The coalition will have 3 more orientation meetings in late October and early November before they break off into workgroups and dive into the real work of the coalition.

Please feel free to reach out to Jen Villa at uwvilla@uwindianacounty.org or 724-463-0277 at any time if you have questions, thoughts or concerns. Thank you for your support and your commitment to the youth of our community.

655 Church Street, Suite 114,

Indiana, PA, 15701

724.463.0277

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