Community Readiness to Adopt the Communities That Care Prevention System in an Urban Setting.

INTRODUCTION: This manuscript highlights initial activities from a 5-year project to build a community coalition focused on the promotion of family, school, and community connectedness; academic investment; and social and emotional well-being among black male youth and their families, as well as the prevention and reduction of risk behaviors. Project activities were planned according to the step-by-step coalition-based prevention system, Communities That Care. METHODS: During Year 1 (2013/2014), semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 community members (parents, school administrators and teachers, and community leaders and volunteers) to evaluate readiness to adopt Communities That Care. Participants were asked to (1) define community; (2) identify community strengths; (3) recommend methods to strengthen community relationships; (4) envision ideal coalition functions; (5) identify current community resources; (6) recommend prevention targets and methods; (7) identify potential barriers to coalition participation; and (8) assess overall community readiness to adopt Communities That Care. Analyses were conducted in Year 3 (2015/2016). RESULTS: Participants expressed eagerness and readiness to adopt Communities That Care. They identified community strengths and local resources that could contribute to coalition success, as well as potential barriers to participation and group cohesion that if left unaddressed could diminish coalition impact. Participants believed that links between multiple environments (home, school, community) should be strengthened in order to promote the well-being of youth. They envisioned the Communities That Care coalition as a task force of community members with varying talents invested in youth across their entire life course. CONCLUSIONS: Community members' insights may be used to guide implementation of Communities That Care by this coalition and others. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled African American Men's Health: Research, Practice, and Policy Implications, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Implementing the Communities That Care Prevention System: Challenges, Solutions, and Opportunities in an Urban Setting.

INTRODUCTION: Communities That Care, refined and tested for more than 25years, offers a step-by-step coalition-based approach to promote well-being and prevent risk behaviors among youth. Communities That Care guides coalitions to identify and prioritize underlying risk and protective factors; set specific, measurable community goals; adopt tested, effective prevention programs to target selected factors; and implement chosen programs with fidelity. Communities That Care has been implemented in a variety of communities, but has only recently begun to be systematically evaluated in diverse, urban communities. METHODS: This paper presents a process evaluation of Communities That Care implementation within a Midwestern ethnically diverse, urban community. In-depth surveys of 25 black male youth aged 8-14years and their caregivers were conducted to determine the degree to which coalition-selected priorities aligned with the experience of black families. Implementation and survey data were collected in 2014-2017 and analyzed in 2017-2018. RESULTS: Roughly 30% of youth reported ever being bullied or bullying someone else on school property; this aligned with the coalition's decision to focus on positive social skills and bullying prevention. Additional data aligned with the coalition's intent to expand its community action plan to encompass other priorities, including family transitions and mobility. For example, roughly one third of caregivers went on welfare and one third of families moved to a new home or apartment in the past year. CONCLUSIONS: In communities whose residents have experienced historical and current inequities, an effective community prevention plan may need to address structural as well as social determinants of well-being among youth and their families. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled African American Men's Health: Research, Practice, and Policy Implications, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.