Healthy Futures Initiative

Healthy Futures Initiative has implemented a prevention process called Communities that Care to lead Summit County in youth substance abuse prevention and improve overall wellness of the families who call Summit County home. Summit County Public Health (SCPH) and Healthy Future’s Initiative have been awarded a grant by the Colorado De-partment of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) for implementation of Communities That Care (CTC). CTC is an evidence based prevention planning system that enhances existing coalitions and community partner initiatives to address youth substance abuse and mental health. This community-driven effort utilizes local data to identify the risk and protective factors associated with a specific outcome. Realizing that behavior is multi-faceted, the model looks at all aspects of the environment: Individual, Relational, Community and Societal. The five phase system targets predictors of problems rather than waiting until problems occur. Sustainability is built into the CTC process through leveraging existing funding streams and community initiatives. Oversight and technical assistance of this program is being provided by CDPHE. Funding is the result of taxes collected on marijuana sales. There is currently a 5-year budget allocated for implementation of all five phases of the model. Local public health agencies were eligible for this funding to implement the Communities That Care model if they had identified mental health and/or substance abuse as one of their priorities in their Community Health Assessment; Summit County identified both. Summit County CTC recently identified the risk factors of "Low Neighboorhood Attachment and Community Disorganization" and "Favorable Attitudes towards Risky Behavior" as priorities for the first year efforts.