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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

National Night Out, August 6th 2013 at Memorial Park in Gardner from 5-8pm. FREE!!!!!!!


The Gardner Community Action Team (GCAT) is a Drug Free Communities grantee, and is also funded by the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.  Our Mission is to increase the health and wellness of the community by reducing youth substance use, with a focus on preventing Underage Access to Alcohol and tobacco; and by preventing the misuse of prescription drugs.
GCAT uses science based prevention strategies in the following ways:
  • We build and maintain CAT participation, ensuring that it is representative of the diverse organizations and individuals that CAT serves;
  • Create opportunities for networking between youth, parents, businesses, media, providers, law enforcement agency, religious/fraternal organizations, civic groups, healthcare organizations, and state, local and tribal government specializing in the reduction of substance abuse;
  • Educate and raise awareness to the community about the dangers of youth substance abuse using environmental strategies (school programs, resource tables at events, etc.);
  • Develop, implement, and evaluate initiatives, strategies, and special projects that address community health (Purchase and maintenance of Prescription Drug take-back Boxes and take-back events, liquor and tobacco enforcement activities, alcohol server trainings, etc.)
 
The Team is a voluntary group of professionals and non-professionals who are committed to the betterment of the community through these methods. Our group includes members of the police department, City Government, Teachers, Substance Abuse Councilors, SADD Students, Parents and other community organization representatives.
We typically meet once a month for regular group meetings and do have ad-hoc subcommittee meetings. All of our general meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month unless there is a holiday conflict or major community event conflict. We utilize these meetings for the planning of events and strategies around substance abuse prevention, and to keep the entire group updated on GCAT’s progress.
GCAT would be very pleased to have your involvement in any way. The group thrives on community engagement and support, and would appreciate regular attendance at meetings if one or more of your members could attend and participate.
More particularly, we are currently seeking participation for a community event we are planning in August.  It is called national Night OUT and is based on a national level campaign to “take back the night”
 and provide positive alternatives for youth and drug/crime prevention awareness.
The introduction of National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime”, in 1984 began an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. NATW’s National Night Out program culminates annually, on the first Tuesday of August
NATW’s Executive Director, Matt Peskin introduced National Night Out in 1984.The first National Night Out took place on Tuesday, August 7th 1984. That first year, 2.5 million Americans took part across 400 communities in 23 states. National Night Out now involves over 37 million people and 15,000 communities from all fifty states, U.S. Territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide.

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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.