A Proactive Partnership Public agencies are now demonstrating a greater responsiveness to actual community needs, acknowledging the ability of communities to understand their needs and to more appropriately address their own issues. Further, public agencies now seek to form partnerships with neighborhood residents, families, community organizations, educational institutions, and businesses to develop healthier neighborhoods and provide safer environments for children. This is a recognition that alcohol, tobacco and drug problems cut across individual, family and organizational boundaries, and only by bringing them together can we arrive at effective solutions. These multiple-level partnerships, which include family, community and governmental systems, can offer comprehensive and integrated responses to our common problems. A Prudent Use of Public Funds The use of public funds to help communities address alcohol, tobacco and other drug problems has had widespread support for many years in San Diego County. However, in spite of this, there are insufficient public dollars to meet the demand for alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention services. Further, prevention funding must be paired with other community initiatives to make a significant impact in reducing problems caused or aggravated by alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. An appropriate role of government is to allocate funds that would be both equitable among communities and provide services that demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness. Public agencies will work together with communities to identify the most responsible use of public and private fiscal resources. An Integrated Approach The most significant element of the new prevention framework approach is the opportunity for neighborhoods and communities to plan, develop and implement alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention services that are coordinated with their broader efforts to address the needs of youth and families. This new prevention framework focuses on services that offer communities the best chance to protect young people. Specific long-term goals have been established to achieve a significant reduction in the use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana among adolescents.
The prevention framework attempts to demonstrate accountability and greater local control in planning services most significant to families within communities. Leveraging County ADS funds with other private and local funding can create a synergistic effect to build a community fiscal infrastructure. This infrastructure will provide a flexible funding base to coordinate the delivery of prevention services according to community need. Consequently, community-planned prevention efforts using a combination of public and private funding will offer more efficient and effective responses to the alcohol, tobacco and other drug problems that not only impact the daily lives of youth and families but all members of the community. Download full framework... |  |