2008 · Book chapter · English
Using Community Epidemiologic Data to Improve Social Settings: The Communities That Care Prevention System
Fagan, A. A., Hawkins, J. D., & Catalano, R. F.
Fagan, A. A., Hawkins, J. D., & Catalano, R. F. (2008). Using Community Epidemiologic Data to Improve Social Settings: The Communities That Care Prevention System. In Toward positive youth development: Transforming schools and community programs (pp. 292–312). Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327892.003.0016
Summary
Book chapter in “Toward Positive Youth Development” (Oxford University Press) describing the Communities That Care model, illustrated with examples from the 12 communities implementing it in the Community Youth Development Study. The authors present CTC as a strategy for improving the social settings in which young people grow up: a broad-based local coalition is trained in six structured workshops over six to twelve months, collects epidemiological data including an anonymous school-wide youth survey, identifies the most elevated risk factors and most depressed protective factors, and then selects evidence-based policies and programmes that address those factors in schools, families, community organisations and the wider neighbourhood. Implementation is monitored and the survey repeated periodically to gauge progress. The chapter contains no new outcome data; it is a concise statement of the CTC logic by its developers and a useful primer for European practitioners new to the system.