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Thursday, September 11, 2008

GCAT Meeting

GCAT (Gardner Community Action Team)
Minutes
September 10th 2008

Attendance- Joshua Tackett (CMCA), Sean Harris (LUK,CMCHC), Cathy Apostoleris (MOC), Mariah Harding (SADD), Tim Gamache (SADD), Gabby Istivan (SADD), Bernie Sullivan (GBoH), Tom Noonan (LUK), Sue Christenson (Heywood), Jim Kraskouskas (Anthonys Liquors), Rebecca Johnson (Gardner District School Nurse), John Lawrence (GPD)

Items Discussed

Membership Expansion
We discussed the list we recently formed and as I send these minutes out with a copy of the list could people highlight and name people from the areas specified and return it to me.
Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF)
We talked about the data collection and what this means for our continued activities. The YRBS and Police records were just a few of the places for us to get numerical data. The stories and qualitative data will come from the members and hopefully the one-on-one interviews. I handed out the one-on-one outlines and if people would like a better explanation they could contact me.
Planning and Timelines
We brainstormed the ideas for this group. We set goals of what we should be working on within 3 & 6 months as well as what we want to see happen throughout our activities. I will be sending out a copy of this to all and am willing to have an open email discussion about how these meet with out goals and mission.
Mission/Vision Statement
This week we handed out the outline for coming up with a mission statement I will be sending out a form I would like everyone to fill in. It has a few questions as to what we are intending to do with our actions and how we plan to get to our goals. I hope this will stimulate conversation between us as well and each other.

Future Happenings
Shoulder Tap TBD
GCAT Meeting at 2pm Mon. October 6th @ Gardner High

Other Points of Interest
If people can’t make the next meeting could they shoot me a quick email. Also if they could include any pertinent information they have regarding data collection, the mission statements or the membership expansion list and anyone they can talk to from it. Thanks.

Next Meeting- October 6th @ 2:00pm at Gardner High School
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Social Host Liability

What Is A Community Action Team?

LUK, Inc.’s Community Action Team (CAT) represents an initiative, funded by DPH Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, to help organize and mobilize select communities to reduce rates of underage drinking. CATs utilize a model known as Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA). Local data is used to inform activity selection. CATs look for trends in both school and police data. After identifying local trends, CATs plan activities from a menu of interventions with each option designed to decrease underage access to alcohol or to increase community awareness. Community teams monitor their actions by conducting surveys and/or examining the data for new trends. If/when selected activities don’t contribute to desired changes, CATs may adjust their respective action plans.The CATs employ environmental strategies to prevent underage drinking. Environmental strategies focus on increasing community protective factors while deceasing risk factors that influence underage drinking.

Strategic Prevention Framework

Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) is a five step process (see below) developed by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to assist communities in building the infrastructure necessary for effective and sustainable prevention of substance use and abuse. Programs currently funded by BSAS in Massachusetts utilize this framework.SPF: The Five Step ProcessStep 1: AssessmentStep 2: Capacity BuildingStep 3: PlanningStep 4: ImplementationStep 5: monitoring and evaluatingKey Principles of the SPF· Follows a Public Health Approach· Focuses on change for entire populations (collections of individuals who have one or more personal or environmental characteristic in common)· Considers an entire range of factors that determine health· Is outcome-based· Follows a strategic planning process· Uses data throughout the process to make informed decisions.

CATs In Action

While each CAT is unique, they share common approaches, group maintenance functions, and responsibilities to BSAS. Shared group maintenance functions:

Agenda setting
Meeting facilitation
Minute-taking

Common responsibilities to BSAS to a shared set of activities (some examples include, but are not limited to):
Compliance Check
Shoulder Tap
Social Host Liability Training
Sticker Shock
One-on-one Interviews

Compliance Check
A Compliance Check usually involves the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) or the local Police Department. The purpose of the compliance check is to make certain that establishments selling alcohol are checking identification and selling responsibly according to Massachusetts State Law requirements. To complete a compliance check, preplanning is conducted around the partnership between CAT team members and out-of-area youth. The youth enter alcohol vending establishments and attempt to purchase alcohol. If the bar, restaurant or liquor store finalizes the transaction between the vendor and the youth under twenty-one years of age, the youth must walk with the item in hand and give it to the officials waiting outside the establishment. The youth reports the outcome of the transaction to the ABCC/officers and identify the establishment employee who served them. This person is informed by a ABCC/local Police Department representative that they have just committed a crime. A citation is immediately issued to the person and/or the establishment under the name of the license holder.

Shoulder Tap
A Shoulder Tap campaign involves youth (specifically anyone under twenty-one years of age) in association with liquor store owners and the local Police Department.To perform a shoulder tap, the youth position themselves outside the entrance door of a liquor store establishment and ask customers hypothetically: “We are under the age of twenty-one and cannot buy alcohol ourselves. If we were to ask you to buy us alcohol would you?” Depending on the answer from the customer the youth themselves would issue the person either a “YES” card or a “NO” card, along with a short verbal explanation about why purchasing alcohol for youth is wrong and against Massachusetts State Law

Social Host Liability Training
Social Host Liability Training is an activity usually accomplished in cooperation with the District Attorney or the local Police Department. The training includes reviewing the laws and regulations of regarding serving alcohol to minors on personal property and the liability that comes from alcohol being served on one’s own property without owner awareness. The District Attorney/local Police Department reviews the consequences of the Social Host Liability Laws.

Sticker Shock
A Sticker Shock campaign is an activity that involves adults and youth under age twenty-one entering stores to help raise awareness of underage drinking. With permission from the liquor store owners, youth and adult volunteers enter stores and apply stickers, specifically targeting cases of beer, and all alcohol beverages (excluding single bottles). The sticker must not obstruct the label. The stickers say things like “Hey You! It’s Illegal to Provide Alcohol to Anyone Under 21” and “Buyer Beware Don’t Provide Alcohol for Kids.”

One-on-One Interviews
One-on-One Interviews are an integral element of the CAT project. In a One-on-One Interview, a designated CAT member asks a series of questions to members of the community to get insight into the community at large. The questions are also designed to raise awareness and solicit feedback on project activities.