WHAT DOES THE PARTNERSHIP DO? Brings organizations and individuals addressing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse (ATODA) together. Leverages money for ATODA prevention in Summit County. Develops data collection tools. Conducts research and evaluation on ATOD use and make results available to the community. Shares state-of-the-art best practices in ATODA prevention. Facilitates enhanced communication between educators and criminal justice professionals. Holds community forums/training on prevention issues. Maintains a prevention video library. Collaborates with businesses and municipalities to promote drug-free work place efforts. Accesses in-kind contributions in excess of $20,000 and works over 2000 man hours yearly in support of prevention in Summit County. Provides precepting to individuals seeking the professional prevention credential. Facilitates the distribution of prevention funding to Alcohol, Drug, Mental Health Services Board funded and other prevention efforts. Distributes prevention information. Participates in by-invitation-only, national level prevention strategy sessions. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SOCIETY THAT CALLS FOR A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP? Summit County, Ohio, like many American communities, has a substance abuse problem, and it is serious. Summit County has identified substance abuse and violence as two of the top three priority issues for those ages 13 to 64 (Healthy Summit 2000). The average age of the first time substance user in Summit County is 11 years old for cigarettes, 12 years old for alcohol, and about 13 years old for marijuana (Summit County Community Partnership, 1995, School Drug and Alcohol Survey). In Summit County alone, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse (ATODA) costs $498,750,000 annually. This includes the lost productivity cost for business and industry ($69,300,000), and costs associated with alcohol related tragedies ($98,700,000). The annual number of deaths in Summit County directly attributable to ATODA is 1,050. The Community Partnership of Summit County is a substance abuse prevention coalition working to reduce the impact of ATODA on Summit County. WHY IS THE PRESENCE OF A PARTNERSHIP IMPORTANT IN ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM? The key to impacting the substance abuse problem in Summit County lies in bringing together people from diverse segments of the community to share ideas, energy and resources to address the problem of substance abuse. Research and evaluation have shown that comprehensive, community-based prevention approaches are the most effective way to reduce the risk of harm associated with alcohol and other substance abuse (Aguirre-Molina & Gorman, 1996). Summit County will be successful in reducing the impacts of substance abuse by working together to define the problem, by assessing local community resources, and by mobilizing and committing these resources alcohol/drug abuse prevention. The Partnership is a proven vehicle for bringing and keeping the community together to prevent substance abuse (Warner, 1998). WHO WOULD MISS THE PARTNERSHIP IF IT DID NOT EXIST? The Partnership addressed substance abuse in the entire Summit county area. This includes the schools, neighborhoods, businesses, organizations, churches, basically any individual in the Summit county area needing assistance in preventing substance abuse. There are 180 Partnership member organizations benefiting from the coalition and its approach. Without the Partnership, many of these organizations would not have developed relationships with resources which have become fundamental to their work both within and outside the Partnership. While the prevention of substance abuse is the common thread uniting these organizations, the relationships formed through the coalition effort are often new associations between resources experiencing similar struggles and working on similar issues. These associations have become essential for collaboration in support of individual partners’ agency mission. These associations assist the partners in engaging in more prudent and effective planning. The Partnership also serves as a clearinghouse for information and data used by Partners when applying for grants, when monitoring the progress of their activities, and when evaluating the effectiveness of their programs. Increasingly, funding sources are demanding that communities address substance abuse and other problems through a collaborative approach because the elements of any community system are interdependent and interventions directed at one element can affect others" (Goodman, et. al. 1996, 35; see also Kelly, 1996). Summit County Community Partnership, as a coalition whose mission is the prevention of substance abuse, supports the link between member organizations with common goals but different approaches to substance abuse prevention. The Partnership assists in keeping those diverse approaches complimentary rather than competitive in turn increasing their effectiveness. For the vast majority of organizations working to address substance abuse, the building and maintenance of a coalition is only peripheral to the organization's primary mission. Evaluation from over 10 years of studying substance abuse coalitions has shown that, without an organization whose explicit mission is to maintain the coalition, the coalition cannot and will not be maintained. The Summit County Community Partnership is the only organization in Summit County whose primary purpose is to maintain a substance abuse prevention coalition, to monitor coalition driven activities and evaluate coalition-driven outcomes. What is the Partnership's Relationship With Other Organizations? The Partnership is unique in that rather than compete with service providers we increase the effectiveness and use of existing services through collaboration with other agencies in identifying and addressing service gaps. The Partnership’s staff maintain the coalition's focus on carrying out activities that address these gaps. The Partnership's unique role is reinforced by our structure which facilitates ongoing planning and implementation by volunteers and partners through their active involvement in: Action Groups: Alcohol/ Drug Services and Public Education Criminal Justice Units Government Units Medical/ Health Personnel Human/ Social Services organizations Faith Based Organizations An Executive Committee A Drug-Free Workplace Advisory Board African-American Minority Advisory Committee An Evaluation Committee A Board of Trustees WHY MIGHT A FUNDER GIVE MONEY TO THE PARTNERSHIP AND NOT DIRECTLY TO THE SERVICE PROVIDER? The comprehensive, coalition-based approach has been proven to enhance the effectiveness of any activity in which a service provider may engage. While service providers have limited time to concentrate on nurturing collaboration, the Partnership exists to assure that collaboration occurs. The Partnership was founded and designed to maintain a comprehensive, coalition approach to substance abuse prevention and functions exclusively to assure that organizations within the community are working in concert to prevent substance abuse. By directly funding the Partnership, a donor supports the comprehensive, coalition based prevention approach and assures that optimal results are achieved from the contribution, while enhancing the efforts of their individual organizations DOES THE PARTNERSHIP COMPETE FOR FUNDING WITH ITS CONSTITUENT MEMBERS? The Partnership avoids competing with service-provider partners. On the occasion when, in order to meet a particular prevention objective, the Partnership must become a service provider, coalition members are contracted to provide the service. The Partnership facilitates linkage, provides management and oversight and brings various service providers together to optimize the effectiveness of their services on behalf of the Community Partnership of Summit County. Government and other funders often require that those applying for funds be active coalition participants. There have been several occasions on which funds came to Summit County only because it has an active and viable Partnership. By design, these funds could only be accessed by organizations within a coalition. Therefore, the existence of a Partnership enhances the likelihood that Partnership members will be successful grant applicants and, as important, that applicants for funding will be active participants in a community-based coalition. Because some funding organizations, such as foundations, have broad categories for funding, the Partnership has, on occasion, approached the same funding source as a partner. As with any organization engaging in good business practices, if a funding source appears appropriate for approach by the Partnership, the Partnership seeks that funding. However, the Partnership's unique nature and niche as an organization specializing in coalition maintenance, rarely results in encroachment on a service-provider’s funding source. WHAT IS THE PARTNERSHIP? The Community Partnership of Summit County’s mission is to facilitate coalitions of community resources in the effort to prevent alcohol and other substance abuse in Summit County. Currently, over 180 community resources are Partnership members. Members include county municipalities, school districts, medical facilities, businesses, universities, county agencies, the housing authority, social service providers, representatives of the faith community, law enforcement, the courts, substance abuse, prevention and treatment organizations, civic and professional organizations and community activists. System representatives meet in committees called Action Groups in order to identify and address community needs. Activities are geared toward addressing our state and national generated and sanctioned prevention goals. Committee members carry out activities with staff support. An Executive Committee consisting of the chairs of Action Groups meets to assure communication between Action Groups and to enhance collaboration. The Partnership has a Board of Trustees that maintains a legally functioning 501(c)(3), not for profit organization. They set policy and have fiscal responsibility for the our operations. The Board of Trustees provides leadership, guidance, support and assistance to the Partnership in its efforts to accomplish its stated mission. REFERENCES Aguirre-Molina, M. & Gorman, D.M., "Community-based approaches for the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use," Ann. Reve. of Pub. Health, 1996, p. 29. Erme, M. Healthy Summit 2000: Report of the Community Leadership Panel. Healthy Summit 2000 & Akron, Barberton & Summit County Health Departments, Akron, OH, 1996, p.29. Goodman, R.M., Wandersman, A., Chinman, M., Imm, P., Morrissey, E., "An ecological assessment of community-based interventions for prevention and health promotion: Approaches to measuring community coalitions," American Journal of Community Psychology, 1996, p. 30. Kelly, J.G., Ecological constraints on mental health services, American Psychologist, 1966, p. 30. Summit County Community Partnership. School Drug and Alcohol Survey: Results for Summit County Schools, Akron, OH: Summit County Community Partnership, 1995, p. 32. Warner, E. Forging Linkages with Managed Care Systems: CSAP Community Coalitions in Ohio. KRA Corporation and COSMOS Corporation. Washington, D.C.: Center for Substance Abuse, 1998. p. 32.