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Topics:
Youth
Health
and Human Services Develops the Capacity of Communities To Empower
and Save Their Youth
With the
support of HHS, Together! Thurston Communities for a Drug-Free
Youth in Thurston, Washington, and the Child Development Council
in Columbus, Ohio have engaged youth, parents, civic organizations,
the faith community, and others in empowering young people to
live healthy and productive lives. In Thurston, they developed
a 30-point community youth agenda that involved the schools, law
enforcement, business and the media. In Columbus, they created
a "parents as teachers" program to complement Head Start, and
also provide substance abuse prevention, immunization, and job
training and education for parents. Story.
Story:
Health and Human Services Develops the Capacity of Communities
To Empower and Save Their Youth
Story
prepared by: Carmen Sirianni, CPN editor-in-chief.
Together! Thurston
Communities for a Drug-Free Youth is a county-wide organization
in the state of Washington to prevent violence and drug and alcohol
abuse. It recently developed a 30-point community youth agenda that
provides an approach to supporting and valuing their young people.
Over 700 people were involved in developing the agenda and identifying
promising approaches for assuring a safe and healthy community.
Participants included youth, parents, citizen organizations, the
faith community, volunteers, and parent-teacher-student organizations,
as well as government, nonprofit service providers, schools, law
enforcement, business and the media.
They developed
a wide range of strategies, including the community usage of schools
as activity/learning centers for various groups: students, parents,
neighborhood watch and other programs that link the neighborhood
to other agencies and services. This program was funded in 1990
for a three-year grant through the Community Partnership Program
of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services, Health and Human Services.
The Child
Development Council is a Head Start program in Columbus, Ohio,
which began in 1985 serving 153 children, and now has 15 sites
serving over 2100 children and their families. One of the sites
is a family service center, established by renovating part of
Capitol Park, a low-income housing complex. This center includes
full- and part-day Head Start classes, a "parents as teachers"
program, an immunization clinic, substance abuse prevention and
education, job training and education for parents, and assistance
to homeless families, including job and housing placement and
full-day Head Start for the children.
In Capitol
Park, parents have become more active in their community as a
result of their involvement in the Head Start program. Some of
them are now involved in a working group with township trustees
to identify housing priorities for the community. The Residents
Council at Capitol Park, comprised of many Head Start parents,
has contributed to a decrease in crime related to drugs within
their complex by identifying areas of drug traffic and working
with the police. And resident turnover rates have also decreased
as a result of the presence of the Family Service Center and greater
community involvement by parents. The program has been funded
since its inception by the Head Start Bureau, Administration on
Children, Youth and Families, Health and Human Services.
More
Information
Peter Edelman
Counsellor to the Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
202-690-6056
Mr. Edelman
collaborated on the Reinventing Citizenship Project, and is a
participant in the American Civic Forum.
For Thurston:
Dave Robbins, 301-443-9438.
For the
Child Development Council: Matty James, 614-221-1694; and Michael
Kharfen, Director of Office of Public Affairs, Administration
for Children and Families, 202-401-9215.
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