EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR YEAR 8 EVALUATION:

During the eighth implementation year, the Asset Building Coalition’s (ABC) Drug Free Communities Project continued to build the prevention capacity of the Coalition and conducted environmental prevention through a normative education campaign that incorporated three primary approaches:

• Partnership with the School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education (SPACE) to translate social norms information into a multimedia performance
• Social norms messages disseminated through PSAs, theater slides, and bus placards
• Updating a previously published Parent Resource Guide

All approaches were designed to effect community-level change in youth knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors around alcohol and other drugs. For participating students, the project also served as an effective prevention strategy during high-risk after school hours. Project data were collected through program reports, observation of coordination meetings, coordinator reports, and a variety of surveys.

I-A. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND KEY FINDINGS

• The ABC was restructured to increase participation and engagement. Changes included changing from a quarterly to a bi-monthly meeting schedule and incorporating a number of standing agenda items
• ABC members had the opportunity to participate in six mini-trainings, delivered during Coalition meetings, and three additional capacity building workshops held in community settings
• The ABC partnered with SPACE to create a multimedia performance that incorporated prevention information developed by participating youth following a series of trainings on social norms delivered by the ABC Coordinator
• The Parent Resource Guide was updated to include social norms theory and recent data and distributed to schools and community groups
• The ABC used images of Year Seven murals and social norms messages to design and carry out a media campaign that included radio PSAs, slides projected during previews at the local movie theater, placards on the exterior of Mendocino Transit Authority buses, and a traveling exhibit of mural photographs

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

II-A. PROBLEM ADDRESSED BY THE PROJECT Ukiah residents have long recognized the ubiquity of alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse among local youth. Needs assessments have pointed repeatedly to substance abuse and associated social problems (e.g., child abuse, domestic violence, high-risk sexual behavior) as the county’s most urgent challenges. While AOD abuse is common elsewhere, the situation in Mendocino County is especially acute because of the county’s geographic isolation, patterns of multigenerational abuse, and a culture of acceptance that views substance use and abuse as normal parts of life.
Recreational use of marijuana, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs by youth is an issue of particular concern to Ukiah residents. The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) shows levels of youth experimentation and AOD involvement that are consistently higher than state averages. Data on federally-mandated Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) measures from the 2003 administration of the CHKS in Ukiah Unified School District (UUSD) schools are compared with 2005 and 2007 CHKS results in Table Four of this report.
II-B. PROJECT STRUCTURE
Drug Free Communities (DFC) is a project of the Mendocino County Asset Building Coalition (ABC), which provides vision, direction, and coordination for the prevention activities undertaken by the Coalition and its members throughout Mendocino County. The Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency, Community Health Services Branch, Prevention and Planning Unit (PAPU)¹ administers the grant and coordinates the project. The Drug Free Communities Project is staffed by a part-time Coordinator and a Program Assistant, supported by the Prevention Services Manager and the PAPU Director.
II-C. TARGET POPULATION
The ABC’s Drug Free Communities Project is designed to serve 40-60 Ukiah area youth ages 11-18 each year, with at least 50% of the participants being at-risk youth.
II-D. PARTNERS AND THEIR ROLES
The ABC partners with community-based organizations, youth-serving organizations, schools, and informal groups to coordinate DFC activities and environmental prevention strategies. The ABC itself includes individuals with a wide range of experience and expertise in working with youth who represent the federal Drug Free Communities Program’s mandated twelve community sectors. During Year Eight, the ABC partnered primarily with the School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education (SPACE) to implement project activities.
II-E. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
In addition to continuing efforts to build the prevention capacity of the ABC, Year Eight of the Drug Free Communities Project proposed to focus on community-level prevention by creating and carrying out a broad-based normative education campaign with the following components:

• Partnership with SPACE to translate social norms information into a theatrical performance
• Social norms information disseminated through a variety of media, including an updated Parent Resource Guide
• Working with youth groups to develop and display digital stories related to social norms and substance abuse
• Developing a mural map highlighting the work that the ABC had completed during the previous seven years and showing connections between environmental prevention strategies, youth development, and reductions in youth substance use. All four of these approaches were designed to effect community-level change in youth knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors around alcohol and other drugs.

¹ PAPU was developed as part of the on-going restructuring of the County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) and includes: Prevention Services, Chronic Disease Prevention, Nutrition and Health, Built Environment, and Health Promotion.