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What is Wagner Communities That Care?

• WHO: Diverse group of community stakeholders.

• WHAT: Developing a strategic community prevention plan designed to address the community's profile of risk and protection with tested, effective programs and to implement the chosen programs with fidelity.

• WHEN: Wagner Communities That Care coalition started development in January 2022.

• WHERE: Wagner Communities That Care focuses on Wagner youth and community.

• HOW: Wagner CTC uses the Communities That Care prevention framework that provides communities with tools to address youth health and behavior problems through focus on identified risk and protective factors. Priority risk and protective factors are selected based off youth survey data and a community profile.

• WHY? Wagner CTC strives for a stronger community and successful youth!

Wagner Communities That Care Coalition uses a prevention framework that gives us the tools to address youth health and behavior problems through focus on identified risk and protective factors.

Wagner Communities That Care (CTC) started development in January 2022, with a diverse group of community stakeholders. Communities That Cares (CTC) 5-phase process guides a strategic prevention plan with tested, effective programs to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors. CTC is a proven prevention system for a stronger community and successful youth!

Phase 1 Getting Started: This phase began January 2022. Connie Kaufman, BSN, RN with the Wagner Community Memorial Hospital-Avera, was identified as the coordinator for the Wagner Communities That Care efforts. The hospital partnered with South Dakota Department of Health to initiate these efforts.

Phase 2 Getting Organized: This phase involved identifying and forming a diverse group of community stakeholders to start this coalition.

Phase 3: Using youth survey and community data, a community profile was created. Priorities risk and protective factors were selected.

Phase 4 Create a Plan: Putting all the efforts together! Based on selected priorities, programs were selected for implementation.

Phase 5 Implement and Evaluate: All the planning into action! Implementation of the chosen programs, while tracking progress and measuring evaluation.

Please use this link to watch a quick video to learn more about the 5 phases: https://www.communitiesthatcare.

Prevention Efforts Our Prevention Efforts: The goal of the Communities That Care framework is to identify the risk factors and protective factors present in our community. Youth survey data is collected and analyzed.

Wagner CTC has chosen to focus on three priority risk factors.

1. Low Commitment to School: Low commitment to school means that a child no longer sees the role of a student as meaningful and rewarding. Youth who have lost this commitment to school are at a higher risk for substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school dropout and violence.

2. Perceived Risk of Drug Use: Youth not perceiving the risk of drug use can lead to risk behaviors of substance use and potential violence. According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) high-risk substance use can cause lack of school connectedness, low academic achievement, association with delinquent or substance using peers, sexual risk behaviors and mental health issues.

3. Depressive Symptoms: Communities That Care framework noted that depressive symptoms can be caused by risk in all four domains of community, family, school, and peer/individual. Depressive symptoms can be caused by community transitions and mobility; family history of the problem behavior, management and conflict; academic failure beginning in late elementary school; individual/peer early and persistent antisocial behavior as well as constitutional factors. Mayo Clinic cites that teen depression is a serious mental health problem that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how your teenager thinks, feels and behaves, and it can cause emotional, functional, and physical problems. Teen depression signs and symptoms include a change from the teenager’s previous attitude and behavior that can cause significant distress and problems at school or home, in social activities, or in other areas of life. Emotional changes can be trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things, as well as low self-esteem. Behavioral changes can be use of alcohol or drugs; social isolation; poor school performance or frequent absences from school; angry outburst, disruptive or risky behavior; self-harm and making a suicide plan or a suicide attempt.

To decrease these priority risks, Wagner CTC implemented Too Good For Drugs programming, Youth Mental Health First Aid to Wagner Community School certified staff as well as Teen Mental Health to grades 10-12.

Wagner has chosen two priority protective factors to increase protection.

The two priority protective factors are rewards for Prosocial Behavior, both in the community and in the individual/peer domain. The coalition will be using the Social Development Strategy (SDS) to increase this protection. The Social Development Strategy is an evidence-based framework which organizes protective factors into a simple strategy for action to promote positive youth development.

The Social Development Strategy identifies the following key components to increase protective factors for young people in our community: Healthy beliefs and clear standards for behavior: Young people are more likely to engage in healthy, socially responsible behavior when parents, teachers, and the community around them communicate healthy beliefs and clear standards.

Bonding: Strong, attached relationships with those who hold healthy beliefs and clear standards are an important protective influence. To create these bonds, young people need: Opportunities: Provide opportunities for active participation and meaningful involvement with prosocial others, including families, schools, communities, and peer groups.

Skills: Teach young people the skills they need to succeed.

Recognition: Provide consistent recognition and praise for their effort, improvement, and accomplishments.

The Social Development Strategy also recognizes the important influence of individual characteristics on the capacity to take advantage of other protective processes. Characteristics such as positive social orientation, resiliency and intellect can facilitate bonding and, in some cases, can be nurtured by communities and adults.

You may have also recently celebrated SOC Day with us. In April, Mayor Tammy Thornton signed a proclamation for SOC Day to be an annual sponsored day by Wagner CTC. This day is a day to bring awareness to mental health, decrease mental health stigma and showing you care about others’ mental health and well-being.

Wagner CTC welcomes you to join us in our efforts to strengthen our community! There are many different opportunities for you to get involved. We have coalition membership, as well as opportunities for community volunteers. Please contact Connie Kaufman at 605-384-7329. To learn more, please join our Facebook page or visit our website: https://www. wagnerctc.org/