May 12-18th is National Prevention Week
The Partnership believes prevention is key to bettering quality of life for Tioga County residents and applies this belief in several different venues...
The Opioid Coalition:
The Partnership works to temper the effects of the opioid crisis through the efforts of our Opioid Coalition. Partners of this coalition implement a warm handoff process that sees overdose victims get into treatment right away. The Opioid Coalition champions drug take back efforts in our county and has distributed drug deactivation kits to the public. Recently, the coalition supported the efforts of a partner who has a newly acquired recovery house that serves those working toward recovery from addiction by offering them comfort in a supportive drug-free environment.
Strengthening Families 10-14 Years Program a.k.a. Family Night Out:
While the word "prevention" is generally used as it relates to substance abuse, another important aspect of prevention comes in the form of strengthening social bonds and discouraging anti-social behavior. Strengthening family bonds and improving communication is the main focus of the Partnership's multi-session Family Night Out program. Currently, this program is seeing success in Mansfield, one of five, 7 week long deliveries completed in four different Tioga County locations over the past two years.
Baby Bag Project
As of late, you cannot escape the disturbing news of Measles outbreaks. This is a deadly, but fully preventable disease with the use of proper timely vaccinations. The Partnership's Baby Bag project encourages all new moms to keep their infants' vaccinations up to date for the first 6 months of life. Preventing the spread of this disease is key!
See this important message
from U.S. Health and Human Services Region III Director, Matt Baker.
Too Good For Drugs Program:
Prevention also sits firmly in school curriculums. On staff, we have a prevention educator who is trained to deliver the evidence-based Too Good For Drugs program to school students. This program does touch on substance abuse but, more importantly, addresses the root causes of
why
youth may turn to drug use in the first place. This program has been implemented in first through sixth grades in various Tioga County schools.
Safe Teen Driver Events
The Partnership's Safe Kids Workgroup organizes these events every October at local high schools with generous funding from Shell Appalachia. Virtual driving simulators, "fatal vision" goggles, education on the rules of the road and the consequences of driving distracted or impaired are all shared at these events. All student participants take a pledge to "Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks." Preventing distracted driving especially in road construction zones was a focus this past year where a local boy's father was memorialized as his life was lost due to the actions of a distracted driver.
County Needs Assessment
The Partnership recognizes how vital it is to understand the various facets and nuances of an issue in order to effectively impact it in a positive way. That is why we actively participate with Tioga County Dept. of Human Services in a state mandated needs assessment process that will shed light on Tioga County's needs and give direction to prevention efforts
.
Collaborating with Others who do Prevention Work
:
The Partnership celebrates the prevention works done by the high school students of Wellsboro's Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club. Each spring, SADD stops by the Partnership office for a pizza party before or after going to elementary schools to perform their good decision-making themed puppet shows. This year, we are excited to host them on May 6th! Also, this month we will host a resource table at the Child Abuse Prevention and Foster Child Awareness event on the Green in Wellsboro. (See specifics in "Upcoming Events" below.) Collaborations like this one bring awareness to important local issues and educate the public about what they can do to help.
Communities That Care Prevention Process:
Many sectors in community including law enforcement, school administration, business, the faith community, local government, youth-serving organizations, and community members participate in the Communities That Care (CTC) process. The CTC process includes taking a close look at local Pa Youth Survey data, detecting themes in the data, then prioritizing and carefully selecting areas in which prevention is most needed. Evidence based programs are reviewed for fit and feasibility then the work begins in order to find funding for and implement the most fitting program. Strengthening Families:10-14 Years program was the most recently implemented program. CTC also champions existing evidence-based programs such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, whose
work in pairing mentors with youth is proven to decrease antisocial behaviors and increase beneficial social connections.
These are just a few ways the Partnership engages in Prevention. Substance abuse prevention, injury prevention, preventable and chronic disease prevention, and even environmental advocacy have been a long time focus of our various workgroups throughout our past 25+ years. We sincerely hope the need for prevention wanes, but until that day comes, we'll be here ready to build new partnerships and work to make Tioga County a healthy place to live, work, and play.
