About Us

Mission Statement:

To establish and strengthen collaboration among community partners that support
efforts to prevent or reduce youth substance abuse in Travis County.

Who the Coalition Is:

Coalition members include representation from youth substance abuse prevention, treatment, recovery, law enforcement, business, healthcare, public education, non-profit, research, local government, students, parents, and youth-serving organizations.

The goals of the volunteer–run Coalition are to:

♦ Increase Community Collaboration
♦ Reduce Youth Substance Use

History of the Coalition:

The need for a Coalition emerged in March 2013 following a presentation by the Children’s Optimal Health (COH) to the Child and Youth Mental Health Planning Partnership (CYMHPP). YSAPC formally started in August 2013 to address the identified community need to raise awareness of youth substance abuse issues in the Austin area and to have a strategic focus on youth substance abuse prevention. Community advocates had noted an increased use of substances among youth and a decreased perception of harm from substances.

Accomplishments:

♦ Nominated an Executive Committee with a Chair, Co-Chair, Past Chair, Secretary and Treasurer
♦ Held monthly or bi-monthly meetings
♦ Enlisted membership from the 12 required sectors*
♦ Have had several coalition members receive training in SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF).
♦ Held a Community Summit in October 2013 planned by schools, health providers, substance abuse treatment and prevention providers, and community planners. The Summit included presentations from local experts on youth brain development and substance use impact integrating an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) perspective, presentation of the mapping study, community orientation to the SPF model, a multi-sector panel describing prevention efforts and challenges, and a work session based on an action research model. The Summit was attended by more than 80 participants from over 30 organizations and across sectors.
♦ Held a Prevention Summit in November 2015 entitled A Call to Leaders: Keeping Kids Sober in Travis County … by Enhancing Community Systems; attended by more than 75 participants to increase attendees’ knowledge of systems and resources supporting prevention and identify gaps in systems and resources in Travis County. The Summit included a Keynote address on The Choices program, a comprehensive, systemic, multiple high-risk behavior prevention program for high school students that targets students’ decision making skills around certain high-risk behaviors, a Systems Panel comprised of representatives from the School, Judiciary, Health and Information sectors, and a Youth Panel and Youth PSA Showcase.  A Big Ideas Activity identified 5 proposed action steps to build community systems: 1. Targeted, Comprehensive Substance Abuse Program Model, 2. Alternative Peer Groups, 3. Mentoring, 4. Parent Engagement, and 5. Promotion of Substance Abuse Resources
♦ Shared information with the AISD School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) several times.
♦ Submitted an application for a Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant in 2014 and will be submitting a DFC grant application in 2016.
♦ 2017-20:  Received a federal grant for:  Preventing Opioid Misuse Among Girls – Community of Practice (CoP) from the Office of Womens Health to develop, implement and evaluate a “Preventing Opioid Misuse Among Girls community of Practice (CoP)” to educate healthcare professionals in Region 13 schools and Travis County clinics about opioid misuse among girls ages 10-17, especially pregnant and parenting girls, and enhance knowledge of relevant prevention policies and practices in their respective organizations.  Total CoP participants engaged in webinars and quarterly calls will increase by a total of 25 participants annually from 50 participants in Year 1, to 75 participants in Year 2, and to 100 participants in Year 3.

Future of the Coalition:

YSAPC’s future goals include:
♦ Increasing active membership and participation in Coalition initiatives, specifically increasing youth involvement and including the recovery community
♦ Using evidence-based frameworks from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHSA) to guide strategy development
♦ Implementing a campaign to more broadly publicize substance use consequences for youth, using social media such as a website, PSAs, etc.
♦ Ensuring that substance abuse prevention messaging comes from culturally appropriate youth mentors
♦ Receiving funding to provide staff, increase the implementation level of environmental strategies, and enhance the ability of school district’s to collect useful youth substance use data.

Travis County Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (TCYSAPC) Proposal for SUD Pilot Project:

  1. Targeted, Comprehensive Substance Abuse Program Model
  • Pilot comprehensive substance abuse programming at 2-3 school campuses in Travis County (as identified in COH’s latest findings on youth substance use)
  • Use Crystal Collier’s Choices Program model:
  • provide universal, selective and indicated prevention services at each identified campus
  • saturate youth, parents and school staff with same information
  • include root causes of substance abuse in prevention efforts
  • promote mental health and wellness
  • address multiple high risk behaviors
  • administer Youth Risk Behavior Study (YRBS) surveys to identify high risk behavior trends each school year and to adjust programming efforts for next school year
  • provide effective professional development on youth substance abuse
  1. Alternative Peer Groups
  • Encourage coordination between existing alternative peer groups, such as between UT Center for Students in Recovery and University High School
  • Support scholarships for Teen & Family Services (TAFS)
  • Expand services for Palmer Drug Abuse Program (PDAP)
  1. Mentoring
  • Reach out to network of organizations that already provide mentoring programs
  • Provide mentoring during school day, out of school time, and out in community
  • Identify student leaders to promote mental wellness and talk about mental health issues
  • Utilize Peer Recovery Support Coaches
  • Design mentoring programs that pair mentors-mentees close in age (adult with young adult, college with high school, high school with upper elementary)
  1. Parent Engagement
  • Engage campus PTAs
  • Engage other parent groups, such as Project Graduation
  • Attend and speak at parent/principal coffees at schools
  • Provide family support and adult education
  • Engage neighborhood associations
  1. Promotion of Substance Abuse Resources
  • Promote information about resources available in Austin and Travis County (Phoenix House, Palmer Drug Abuse Program, Teen & Family Services, Council on Recovery, Memorial –Hermann IOP)
  • Maintain and ensure commitment by ATCIC to the Substance Use Services Inventory for Travis County

Notes from SUD Meeting on Dec. 3, 2016: Community Advisory Team reviewed and recommended that we pursue the Targeted, Comprehensive Substance Abuse Program Model. Sam Woollard suggested YSAPC contact Joel Ferguson, Council on Recovery in Austin, who is very familiar with Dr. Collier’s program, and he and Stephanie spoke. Cost is $100,000/year/campus for the program. Each campus has a clinician who is not employed by the school district. The Advisory Team suggested we move to the Who, What, When, Where, How of implementation. Sam Woollard suggested YSAPC contact campus principals at identified campuses and Michelle at AISD Office of Innovation & Development.