Coalition Building
Community coalitions reside at the heart of a proven comprehensive approach to prevent and reduce drug use and its related problems. Integrated with the all-inclusive steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework, certain core competencies for coalitions have been identified that guide coalition development and enhance a coalition’s impact on drug use and its related problems in the community. Ultimately, all sectors of a community must coordinate and cooperate to become an effective and sustained force in the reduction of both the supply and demand for drugs.
Strategic Prevention Framework
The Strategic Prevention Framework is a public health, or community-based, approach to delivering effective prevention strategies. Each of the five steps contains key milestones and products that are essential to the validity of the process.
Five Steps
- Assessment
- Capacity
- Planning
- Implementation
- Evaluation
Assessment
Define the problem or the issue that a project needs to address. This phase involves the collection of data to understand the needs of the identified target group or population; review the resources that are required and available; identify resource and service gaps, and gauge the level of readiness and leadership in the community to address prevention needs and service gaps.
Capacity
Mobilize human, organizational, and financial resources to meet project goals. Promote readiness to undertake the project by mobilizing key stakeholders, creating alliances and educating key leaders and partners.
Planning
Develop a comprehensive strategic plan that includes policies, programs, and practices creating a logical, data-driven method to address problems identified in the assessment.
Implementation
Take action guided by the strategic plan, and identify and overcome any potential barriers. Detail the evidence-based policies and practices that need to be undertaken, develop specific timelines, and decide on ongoing program evaluation needs. Collect process measure data as prescribed by the evaluation plan, and monitor fidelity to the plan. Make needed course corrections based on what the data reveals.
Evaluation
Measure the impact of programs, policies and practices to understand their effectiveness and any need for change. Utilize facts gathered from the evaluation to inform future planning efforts and to determine the feasibility of sustaining the overall change effort.
Key Milestones
Assessment
- Collect data related to the identified problem or issue
- Analyze data collected
- Develop problem statement
- Identify potential geographic target areas and populations for the project
- Assess readiness, external factors and potential barriers to success
- Assess coalition/organizational, fiscal and leadership capacity
- Assess cultural competence
- Analyze gaps in services and resources
Capacity
- Develop and/or continue alliances and partnerships
- Introduce training and education to promote readiness, cultural competence, leadership and evaluation capacity
- Convene meetings and workshops with key stakeholders, coalitions and service providers
Planning
- Convene planning meetings and strategy development sessions
- Strategic goals, objectives and performance targets>
- Develop a Logic model
- Draft Strategic Plan
- Select policies, programs and practices to implement
- Develop Action Plan
- Create evaluation plan and identify measures
Implementation
- Execute Strategic Plan
- Develop full Action Plan
- Acquire relevant materials for implementing policies, programs and practices
- Monitor action plan implementation and note need for course correction
- Consult with an evaluation team
- Develop an Evaluation Plan
- Implement an Evaluation Plan
- Collect process data and additional pre-implementation data
Evaluation
- Consult with evaluation team
- Complete process evaluation
- Collect required data
- Review effectiveness of policies, programs and practices
- Develop recommendations for quality improvement
Key Products
Assessment
- Copy of initial assessment that provides baseline data revealing issue to be addressed
- Data sources for ongoing assessment
- Clear, concise data-driven problem statement
- Gap analysis of relevant resources, services, policies, media messages and/or community programs
Capacity
- Capacity report with quarterly updates
- Directory of key stakeholders, leaders and service providers
- Partnership agreements/memorandums
Planning
- Comprehensive Strategic Plan
- Logic Model
- Preliminary Action Plan(s)
- Performance outcomes
- Evaluation plan and performance measures
Implementation
- Action Plan(s)
- Identified effective policies, programs and practices to be implemented
- Evaluation plan
Evaluation
- Evaluation Report and updates
- Recommendations for quality improvement
Logic Model
Coalition Core Competencies
Community Assessment
- Create and maintain coalitions and partnerships
- Assess community needs and resources
- Analyze problems and goals
- Develop a framework or model of change
Build Coalition Capacity
- Increase participation and membership
- Build leadership
- Enhance cultural competence
- Improve organizational management and development
Action Planning
- Develop strategic and action plans
Implementation
- Develop interventions
- Advocate for change
- Influence policy development
- Write grant applications for funding
Evaluation
- Create measures for each step of your logic model
- Communicate this information to relevant audiences
Sustainability
- Identify specifically what is to be sustained
- Identify what resources are required
- Create case statements to support the sustainment of the resources
- Determine funding/sustainment strategies
- Identify potential partners
- Create action plan to contact and present case to potential partners
Cultural Competence
- Develop support for achieving a higher level of cultural competence throughout your coalition/organization
- Identify the cultural groups to be involved in planning, implementation and reinforcement of the change
- Identify barriers and “stumbling blocks” to cultural competence in your coalition/organization
- Assess your coalition/organization’s current level of cultural competence
- Identify the resources needed to make the change
- Develop goals and implementation steps for making the change, along with deadlines for achieving them
12 Community Sectors
- Youth
- Parents
- Business community
- Media
- Schools
- Youth-serving organizations
- Law enforcement agencies
- Religious or fraternal organizations
- Civic and volunteer groups
- Healthcare professionals
- State, local, and/or tribal governmental agencies
- Other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse