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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

GCAT Meeting

GCAT (Gardner Community Action Team)
Minutes
September 2nd 2008

Attendance- Joshua Tackett (CMCA), Sean Harris (LUK,CMCHC), Jose Rivera (LUK/CMCHC), Amy Whitney (MADD), Cathy Apostoleris (MOC), Mariah Harding (SADD), Tim Gamache (SADD), Gabby Istivan (SADD), Josh Caron (SADD), Gene Farrell (GHS), Lt. Roger Wrigley (GPD), Bernie Sullivan (GBoH), Ishmael Tobales (GMS), Tom Noonan (LUK), Andrew Haas (GHS), Rebecca Johnson (Gardner District School Nurse)

Items Discussed

Membership Expansion
We discussed the types of skills and people we feel are needed at the table in order to make this group a clearer image of the culture of Gardner. We set out to make a list of the people (List Attached) we thought of in the moment and will continue to add to it. We encourage anyone who knows or has a connection to anyone in the categories we list or anyone they think would be an asset to the CAT to invite them to our meeting or contact the coordinator to obtain more information. Next meeting we will discuss who can talk to whom on our list and divvy it up among ourselves.
Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF)
We then reviewed the SPF and the first three steps in particular. The First was the Assessment piece in which we talked about our need for data and the different places we can obtain data. We can collect data from one-on-one interviews, arrest reports, school behavioral data, hospital ER data and a few other places. It is the job of the Cat to help obtain this data so we may focus our efforts where they are needed in the community. Next we talked about capacity building and how once we have an idea of the problems we work towards the solutions by preparing ourselves. We form relationships with key people and work on the CAT as a whole. Then once we are prepared we go into the planning phase, in which we develop objectives and outcomes and plan towards these ends using the data to guide us and the activities to provide us with the means for proven results utilizing our network of members and community volunteers.
Events
To get us kicked off this year we have a few scheduled events. The first is a Shoulder Tap this month which we will discuss in more depth next meeting as well as the locations and timing of the event. There are other events planned but we can discuss them at the next meeting.
One-One Interviews
We can utilize the one-on-one interviews in speaking to perspective members from our list. I will hand out the questions and go over them at next weeks meeting.

Future Happenings

Shoulder Tap TBD
GCAT Meeting at 2pm-4pm Wed. Sept 10th

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

Next Meeting- Sept 10th @ 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.