6 prevention Strategies

We Develop Prevention Policy:

We Develop policy to limit underage access to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and to reduce youth violence within schools and community using a community organizing approach.

 For information about Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol contact Kris Minard at minard@mt.net.

For information about the Violence Prevention Workgroup, contact Jessica Peterson at jdpeterson@jdpconsult.com.

We Educate:

We educate youth on the problems and solutions to underage substance use and violence.  We do this by promoting media literacy and prevention education classes provided by district educators, Project SUCCESS programs, Mentors in Violence Prevention, and Second Step Programs.

For information about these programs, contact the Youth Connections Office at 324-1032 or 324-1083.

We Identify and Refer Students:

We identify youth with alcohol, tobacco, drug use, and mental health issues and get them the help they need through programs including:  Project SUCCESS, school based mental health services, Teen Screen, High Fidelity Wrap Around, and 211.

For more information regarding these services, please contact our office at 324-1038 or 324-1099.

We Promote Social and Emotional Health:

We promote social and emotional health in students through a variety of strategies including networking community youth programs, reducing barriers including fees and transportation so youth may participate in programs, Montana Behavioral Initiative, Big Brothers Big Sisters Middle School Mentoring Program, and Reach Out Helena Volunteer Programs.

For more information regarding these services, please contact our office at 324-1038 or 324-1032.

We Share:

We share what we know with the whole community through community awareness campaigns, events, the Youth Connections Magazine, and free training opportunities.

For more information regarding these services, please contact our office at 324-1078.

We Advocate and Implement Systems Change:

We advocate and implement systems change through networking community agencies and providers to create more streamlined approaches to serving families; thus reducing barriers to change through the 211, Consented Referral Systems, and community collaboration among agencies.

For more information regarding these services, please contact our office at 324-1099.