GREENFIELD — The Communities That Care Coalition, a local anti-substance abuse and youth advocacy coalition, has released its updated action plan.
The plan, according to co-chairs Kat Allen of Partnership for Youth and Lev Ben-Ezra of Community Action Youth Program, continues the coalition’s goals and plan for preventing substance abuse and encouraging healthy living among local youth.
The coalition has been active since 2002. It collects data from around the community and local schools, then chooses evidenced-based approaches based on the results and brings together service providers from different disciplines to achieve its goals.
The coalition is also developing maps that will show where grocery and convenience stores, farmers markets, health clinics, transportation and other services are in relation to where people live, including subsidized housing.
The coalition works through four subgroups that each focus on a different aspect of substance abuse prevention and community wellness: the Parent Education Workgroup, the Regional School Health Task Force, the Youth Involvement Initiative, and the Policy and Practice Change Workgroup.
That work is aimed at decreasing laws and norms that are favorable to drug and alcohol use, decreasing low perception of harm from and parental attitudes favorable to drug and alcohol use, and decreasing family management problems, according to the study.
New data in the report shows that the percentages of young people who report eating more fruits and vegetables and who exercise for more than one hour per day have both risen slightly.
Since the organization began collecting data, alcohol use, the report shows, has decreased by 36 percent, while binge drinking has dropped by 35 percent. Cigarette smoking has decreased 52 percent, and marijuana use has gone down 24 percent. The percentage of local youths experiencing “priority risk factors” that the coalition has identified have also dropped since 2003, the plan shows.
You can reach Tom Relihan at:
trelihan@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 264
On Twitter: @RecorderTom