ABOUT PHSC

Mission Statement of the Partnership For A Healthy Scott County, Inc.

Our Approach to Effective Prevention Services

• Step 1: Assessment: Collect data to define problems, resources, and readiness within a geographic area to address needs and gaps.
• Step 2: Capacity: Mobilize and/or build capacity within a geographic area to address needs.
• Step 3: Planning: Develop a comprehensive strategic plan that include policies, programs, and practices creating a logical data-driven plan to address problems identified in Step 1.
• Step 4: Implementation: Implement evidence-based prevention programs, policies and practices
• Step 5: Evaluation: Measure the impact of the SPF and the implemented programs, policies and practices

In addition, our coalition understands the importance of utilizing the risk and protective factor model in our prevention efforts. The more risk factors present in a community or within an individual, the greater the likelihood that a problem with drug or alcohol abuses will develop.

Our coalition addresses these issues by implementing the Center for Substance Abuse (CSAP) six prevention strategies within our targeted population. By implementing these prevention strategies, we can ensure that effective programs utilized in our prevention effort would produce positive outcomes in the reduction of substance use among youth. The PHSC currently uses all six prevention strategies and initiatives:

• Information Dissemination - Public information and educational programming regarding alcohol, tobacco and other drug use has increased knowledge regarding the hazards of substance use and aided in the development of negative attitudes toward ATOD use within the community.
• Education - Educational approaches that combines the conveyance of information about the harms of substance abuse with the fostering of skills (problem-solving, communication) and promoting protective factors has been shown to be more effective.
• Problem Identification and Referral - obtaining accurate estimates of the number of youth whose substance abuse pattern justify intervention services has always been a priority for our coalition. This process has allowed the coalition to ensure that youth who are already using drugs or alcohol at the time of the prevention effort will receive appropriate treatment to meet their needs.
• Community-Based Process - The coalition members and advisory boards are heavily involved in efforts to reduce substance use within the community. The coalition members partnered with school personnel and often work together to network and strengthen the community efforts in the reduction of substance use.
• Environmental - Educating and informing the public and local merchants through merchant education, vendor training to prevent underage access to alcohol and tobacco products, modifying alcohol and tobacco advertising practices and providing training and resources to schools, city officials, and law enforcement is one of our top priority.

Agency Experience

• Mentoring and educating at-risk youth
• Providing alcohol, tobacco and other drug programs for local schools? GED services for those who are under served and represented
• Job skills training for people transitioning from welfare to work? Entrepreneurial start-up training
• Abstinence-only programs for middle school youth
• HIV/AIDS Awareness and Prevention Services
• Rural Policy and Development Services
• English As A Second Language services for Hispanic immigrants
• Court referred parent training classes
• Computer training classes for low-income residents
• Housing referrals and assistance for those in need
• Community School Supply Exchange Program

Experience The Agency Has In Delivering Family Support Services

The PHSC through the establishment of its Scott County Families First Resource Center has accomplished the goals of working with low-income families. We have provided the following services, which fall in line with the goals and objectives of the ensuring that no child or families are left behind.

1. Teen Issues- through our abstinence-only education program, the PHSC has worked to reduce the number of adolescents who are at-risk of becoming pregnant or by receiving a sexually transmitted disease. We have been incorporating abstinence-only education classes for students ages 12-15 at our local middle schools in Scott County. The classes include health education, peer mentoring, parent involvement, and outreach services.
2. Parenting Education- through our Scott County Families First Resource Center, clients have the opportunity to participate in parenting training classes, and general awareness workshops which consists of health education, safety and nutrition awareness classes, child development, as well as court-referred parenting training classes in collaboration with the Scott County Department of Human Services.
3. Life Skills- through initial start-up funding from other benefactors, clients in Scott and surrounding counties have the opportunity to receive training and services which will enabled them to improve their life and job development skills. We have collaborated with the Scott County School District in providing job development training and services for their GED Alternative Students. This program is unique because it involves collaboration among a local school district and is the first time a school in the State of Mississippi has provided outreach services for a GED Alternative Program.
4. Computer Training Development-clients that are referred from key advisory board members and social service agencies now have a local center, which provides computer-training classes for those who identified as at-risk or whom have been under served in the community. The goal of this program has been to improve literacy skills among children and low-income adults who lack the necessary skills to improve their current quality of life.
5. English As A Second Language (ESL) Services- through the work of our ESL Coordinator, we have formed a collaborative partnership with Scott County Schools teachers by providing technical assistance and hands on training in working with the Hispanic population. Because of the influx of Hispanic Immigrants, and the language barrier that exist, our resource center staff person has been responsible for ensuring that Hispanic children are not left out of the learning process. In addition, our ESL Coordinator provides services to the parents of the children she currently serves in the area.
6. Parent Support- has been provided through support of our Community Action Lifeline (CALL) Program. The CALL Program is an automated 24-hour referral service hot line which enable every student, parent, business, health, teacher, or community volunteer to access state of the art messages relating to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, health parenting, child development, and personal growth. The service also provides mental health, fitness, nutrition, sexual health, and safety issues. The CALL Program is designed to include over 200 educational messages that have been written and reviewed by health educators and industry experts. Organizations such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol, Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have stated that the CALL Program is unique because it is completely anonymous and confidential. The program is an excellent tool to help parent and their children initiate discussions about sensitive topics. The program has served, as a prerequisite to parenting class as well as guide that is accessible by phone.
7. Children and Adolescent Programs- provided by the PHSC through the Scott County Families First Resource Center has been our annual summer camp, which include collaboration with the Mississippi Action for Progress (MAP) Program. This program serve youth ages 6-15 who are identified at-risk or who families are at a certain income level. The summer camp, which begins every year in July through August, includes various structured activities, applied learning activities, social and health activities, such as anger management, coping with peer pressure, drug and alcohol prevention and parental involvement related subjects. The summer camp is designed to expose youth that are identified as at-risk, the opportunity to interact with professional career personnel and worked towards being independent and career minded.
8. Community School Supply Exchange Program- has allowed our organization to collaborate with various community members, volunteers, and parents in sponsoring and donating school supplies for under served families within the community. Because of our continue collaboration among local and county schools within Scott, we are able to coordinate and assist needy families that are eligible and identified through free and reduced lunch. Students K-8th are the targeted and identified group selected for this program.
9. ESL Youth Summer Camp-designed specifically for Hispanic youths that lack the language barrier to successfully keep up in class. Through this program, which is a six-week summer program for elementary school students builds self-confidence through interactive learning and development of the English language. By providing this service, students will be able to keep up and learn Basic English Language Skills that are needed to compete in the classroom.
10. Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug (ATOD) Programs- by providing research and science-based prevention programs that are effective in reducing the incidences of illegal substances youth are exposed to, we can effective reach families through a systematic approach that is proven to impact middle and high school youth.
11. Awards/Recognition-The PHSC was recently recognized in January 2005 by the Mississippi Business Journal as a small outstanding non-profit coalition. The CEO was also inducted into the Mississippi Business Journal Who’s Who’s of CEO.

HISTORY OF THE PHSC

The Partnership For A Healthy Scott County, (PHSC) Inc. was formed in 1999 to address alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention services within Mississippi’s Scott, Newton, Leake and Jasper County. The organization which was founded by Michael D. Dozier, a Certified Prevention Specialist and a National Grant Writer and alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention consultant who previous work has included serving as a State Liaison providing technical assistance and training to support States systems in applying prevention research to practice. As State Liaison to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and U.S. Virgin Islands Model Sites Projects, primarily responsible for collaborating with associates in the Center and national partners to develop and promote scientifically defensible prevention approaches at the state and community level in the Southeast Region. Additional services includes provided various training to local alcohol, tobacco and other drug coalitions whenever needed.

The coalition members consist of key community stakeholders within the targeted areas we serve such as: