Protecting Our Youth: Community Coalition Manager Champions Prevention Efforts
Prom and Graduation…It’s Time to Celebrate! But if you are a parent, you better rethink just how the party will go down.
Kristina Hoskins, Community Coalitions Manager, has been working with community coalitions in Wooster, Orrville, and Rittman to educate community members on how to protect themselves and their children during this celebratory time of year.
Parents Who Host Lose the Most
“Parents Who Host Lose The Most” is the mantra of a public health media campaign created by the Prevention Action Alliance. Designed to educate all parents (most specifically those who are hosting special celebrations), this campaign targets the prevention of underage drinking by focusing on young people’s access to and the availability of alcohol at their parties.
“Parents need to understand that the practice of underage drinking is unsafe, unhealthy, and illegal. If an adult is a partner in making underage drinking accessible on their property, it is a felony,” said Kristina. “The attitude of ‘kids will do what they do’ doesn’t hold water in the eyes of the law.”
The Job Of Promoting The Parents Who Host Campaign Belongs To Community Coalitions
As the Community Coalitions manager, Kristina works with 3 adult coalitions and youth ‘Teen Institute’ groups, in Orrville, Rittman and Wooster.
Building these coalitions is no small task. According to Kristina, the trained professionals at OneEighty understand the science of prevention, but they are not the experts on the community and how it works. Coalition members have both the connections and the vested interest necessary to do the work that strengthens their communities.
These community-based groups are made up of volunteers and staff from different agencies and areas of each community. They are focused on working together on the prevention of youth substance use. Using evidenced-based practices meant to increase protective factors and decrease the number of risk factors impacting children, coalitions set their goals and develop an action plan.
Following The Asset Based Model
Youth protective factors are attributed to the ‘assets’ a youth has in their lives, most specifically the internal factors (social and emotional) and external factors (relationships and opportunities). Looking at what kind of resources each child has at home, at school, and in their community and finding ways to increase their access to these emotional supports and positive role models is the focus.
“We know that scare tactics don’t work because teen brains are still developing, and they don’t process risk the same way as adults. Prevention science has taught is that building assets gives youth a better chance at success” she said.
“My parents struggled with substance abuse, which increased my odds of having the same struggle,” Kristina shared. “Fortunately, I had other adults in my life who supported me in a lot of ways. And that’s what prevention is really about- supporting and educating youth, so they have the tools to live safe, healthy lives.”
Kristina’s Own Journey
While Kristina has worked at OneEighty for 9 years, her journey began as a shelter support specialist at Julia’s Place, OneEighty’s domestic violence shelter, and then in the agency’s Residential Treatment Department.
“I was working on earning my social work degree at the University of Akron, and this job allowed me to have the flexibility I needed to work, go to school, and raise my son,” Kristina said.
But in May of 2018, she had the opportunity to move away from the treatment side of OneEighty and move into the prevention side of the agency.
“Right from the beginning, I saw myself becoming more personally invested in prevention programming. I knew that once I obtained my degree, this was the arena I wanted to pursue. I believed prevention was the ticket to creating the greatest community change” she said.
During her last semester, she started her current role as the Community Coalitions Manager. Her personal interaction with the people in these various coalitions enabled her to both work and use her experiences to complete her required school internship. While all this was a whirlwind for Kristina, she credited the support of the entire prevention team for enabling her to successfully juggle all the work that came with the territory.
“I absolutely love working with these community coalitions,” Kristina said. “Every day and every group is so different.”
Yasus…a Tool For Measuring Success
The Youth Asset and Substance Use Survey (YASUS) measures youth development assets along with the following:
- Substance abuse levels and availability
- The understanding of harm
- Peer and parental perception
Administered with the permission of each school’s decision makers, the survey also measures a student’s assets in eight core areas:
- Family (connectedness)
- Community involvement
- Use of time in religion
- Use of time group/sport
- Positive peer influences
- Non-parental adult role models
- Healthy choices – Future aspirations
OneEighty shares this information with each of the participating schools. Additionally, the agency uses the information derived from this survey for planning purposes, including funding for future programming needs. The results are also used for research purposes in further understanding the link between youth assets and substance use. Participation by students is strictly voluntary.
“Our review of the YASUS gives us confirmation that substance use is going down,” Kristina revealed. “These results encourage us to continue working on the prevention side of this equation. Prevention occurs both in the schools where OneEighty has youth mentors working with students who have been identified as having life factors that open them up to the risk of substance abuse. Community Coalitions educate law enforcement, parents, and the community about prevention information and resources. For me, the team we have built with our staff and our community coalitions is essential for our success,” she concluded.
Link to the prevention department on the OneEighty website: one-eighty.org/get-help/community-outreach-and-prevention/
Want to Join a Community Coalition?………………. https://waynecountycoalitions.com/
Want to learn more about Parents Who Host………..
Want a sign for your yard?……………Contact Robert Bean, Coalition Prevention Specialist, at beanr@one-eighty.org
We’re here to support you.
We help people change direction with programs for addiction, domestic violence, rape crisis, mental health, housing, and prevention and education. At OneEighty, we actively support an evidence-based approach to sustainable recovery from trauma and addiction – restoring dignity and purpose, reimagining potential, and rebuilding lives. OneEighty offers counseling programs, intensive addiction treatment programs, group addiction treatment, residential services, victim services, recovery housing, and peer recovery.
OneEighty Resources
For those encountering a substance use crisis, please call OneEighty’s Substance Use Crisis hotline, available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, at 330.466.0678. For other resources, click the links below: