What did we decide to do?

1. THRIVE MAT-SU Stephanie Allen, Executive Director, United Way of Mat-Su William Hurr, Dir. of Grant & Community Partnerships, Boys & Girls Clubs Alaska Why did we get together? What did we decide to do? How are we doing? What are we doing next? • Long Term Outcomes • All Alaskan communities, families and individuals are free from the harmful effects of substance abuse, dependency and addition. • All community members are connected, resilient and have basic life skills • Target Population • 17,000+ students in 40 schools throughout the Mat-Su Borough. • Protective Factors • Positive connection to other adults (Community Protective Factor) • Engagement in meaningful activities (Individual/Peer Factor) • Short Term Outcomes • % of youth demonstrating increase in positive, pro-social behaviors. • % of youth with increased social/emotional and employability skills. • % of youth reporting increased engagement in meaningful activities. • CSAP Strategies • Education • Alternative Meaningful Activities • Activities • Mat-Su Peer Helpers is a peer helper/leader program that is operating in 10 middle and high schools through the Mat-Su Borough School District and United Way of Mat-Su. • Mentoring one-on-one with at-risk youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters Alaska. • Court Sport Mentoring with at-risk youth at the Night Courts program through Community Sports, Inc. • Life Skills and Social/emotional and employability skills with the Project Learn and SMART Moves programs through Boys & Girls Clubs Alaska. • Training in Positive Youth Development through Anchorage Youth Development Coalition and FASD with Alaska Center for Resource Families. • Thrive Mat-Su… • … is the new name for the Mat-Su Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, an initiative of United Way of Mat-Su in collaboration with the Mat-Su Agency Partnership. The initiative adopted a 10-year mission to reduce substance abuse in the Mat-Su Valley, with an initial focus on youth. • What led up to Thrive Mat-Su? • The 2006 Mat-Su Borough Community Assessment revealed residents considered substance abuse to be a significant problem in the community • In 2007, United Way of Mat-Su and a number of partner agencies, representatives from the business community, education, and government formed the Mat-Su Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (MSAPC), modeled on the Community Anti-Drug Coalition (CADCA) model. • In 2007, the Coalition began work with CoDI to develop and administer a survey to Mat-Su Youth, the Alaska Healthy Kids Survey. • In fall 2008, the Coalition published results from the 2008 Data Project. • Data Project Conclusions • Youth involvement with substance abuse starts at an early age, well before high school. • Caring relationships, high expectations and meaningful participation with adults are strongly associated with external assets for youth. • Thrive Mat-Su Priorities • Increase meaningful adult and community involvement towards at-risk youth. • Increase parental involvement in prevention and early intervention measures in the Mat-Su community. • Reduce access to substances. • Increase community awareness of issues • Develop and implement a community plan to address and prevention substance abuse. • Grant Project Output Data • FY2012 – 35,656 client contacts; 2,725 unduplicated clients; 2,612 sessions. • FY2013 – 42,341 client contacts; 2,718 unduplicated clients; 3,143 sessions. • Grant Project Outcome Data • 11 %of youth demonstrating increase in positive, pro-social behaviors. (FY2012, 51.9%; FY2013, 62.4%) • 13 % of youth with increased social/emotional and employability skills. (FY2012, 83.1%; FY2013, 96.2%) • 11 % of youth reporting increased engagement in meaningful activities. (FY2012, 65.5%; FY2013, 76.3%) • Successes • Mat-Su Peer Helpers has been able to improve the strength of its programming with the hire of a Peer Helper Program Coordinator and improving outcome data collection methods • Trainings in Positive Youth Development topics have been moving from a sit-down classroom styles to more consultation with individual agencies to meet their specific needs. • The Coalition has been involved with Positive Community Norms training opportunities with the Montana Institute over the last three years and is happy to see PCN training make its way to the DHSS, DBH Prevention Grantees. • Making a Difference in Mat-Su • Collaboration and Data-Driven Decision-making • 2013 Mat-Su Community Health Assessment was just published in summer 2013 by Mat-Su Health Foundation and is helping to drive goals heading toward 2020. • Thrive Mat-Su is looking forward to data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to help develop trend data that includes information from 2008, 2011, and 2013. The Coalition is optimistic the effort will assist with its next reassessment process. • Thrive Mat-Su will continue to push for collaborative projects, including helping Alaska Wellness Coalitions develop a statewide media project addressing underage drinking. Key Community Partners