A Community Planning Toolkit

Preventing Youth Substance Misuse and Building Protective Factors

Ever wonder what you and others can be doing in our community to reduce substance misuse? This Toolkit is designed for all:

Community members and leaders
Youth and adults who care for and about them
Local decision makers
Selectboard members
Village Trustees
Municipal Administrators and Managers
You

Teenagers Taking Group Photo Illustration (flat design) [Converted]

We encourage those with all identities, affiliations, and experiences to join us in this effort.

Download Toolkit PDF

What?

This Toolkit is a community planning guide focusing on reducing youth misuse of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and prescription drugs, while supporting efforts to help youth make healthy substance-free choices. There are many factors, including on family and individual levels, that impact youth substance misuse.

The purpose of this Toolkit, however, is to focus on the community, policy and systems levels.

When?

This Toolkit can be used as part of town or organizational planning processes or as a stand alone resource to support healthy community and policy development.

Windham Partnership is available to facilitate group discussions and help create substance prevention plans.

Girl Reading Book with Cat Illustration (flat design) [Converted]

Why?

The brains of young people are still developing until they are 25. This puts them most at risk for substance misuse, especially if they start using at an early age, increasing their likelihood of becoming dependent and experiencing negative health outcomes. The environment around our youth is inundated with substance industry tactics that drive youth misuse. Additional pressures and consistent stressors on families that build up, for some more than others, can lead to higher rates of misuse. Our job and responsibility is to reduce the risks in our communities that lead to substance misuse and to increase the factors that protect our youth through facilitated conversations and intentional planning.

Our Causes

How

This Toolkit is designed to help support those working to create healthy communities and to take some of the guesswork out of the process. The focus is on a systems and policy level intervention.

Planning resources are provided to create policies that use a substance prevention lens to help build healthy communities and reduce youth substance misuse.

Download Toolkit PDF

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Policies & Systems

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Community

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Organizations

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Relationships

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Individuals

The Vermont Prevention Model

This Toolkit is focused on the “Policies and Systems” level of intervention. Most municipal planning prevention activities will fall under this same category.

Focus

Focus your attention by taking steps to see through a youth substance misuse prevention lens.

Understand Community

Understand community norms, messaging, and both risk and protective factors to foster resiliency in youth and create a healthy environment that prevents substance misuse.

Identify a Vision

Identify a vision for what it means to live in a healthy community that includes maximizing the potential that youth will make healthy decisions – that healthy decisions become the norm.

Change Agent

Become a change agent for bringing about lasting change to reduce substance misuse in your community.

Strategize

Be strategic in your substance prevention efforts.

Welcome

Ensure that all populations are welcome, invited and considered in the planning process.

Promote Awareness

Promote awareness towards creation of, or change of, health and substance related policies.

Policies and Systems

Local, state and federal policies and laws Economic and cultural influences – Media

Examples: substance-free parks, community ordinances

Windham County: Whitingham Smoke-Free Parks, Jacksonville Smoke-Free Municipal Center, Brattleboro Liquor Licensee Bylaw