Prevention Partnership continues community improvement efforts in Hazel Crest, Country Club Hills

Seven years ago, the Prevention Partnership saw an opportunity to make a difference in the Village of Hazel Crest.

With the assistance of State Representative and Coalition Chair Will Davis (D-Dist. 30), the Village of Hazel Crest and Vernard Alsberry Jr., the Hazel Crest Alliance was founded to help the community address its need for behavioral health services. 

"The mission of the HCA is to design, implement and evaluate culturally competent, cost-effective evidence-based strategies to address community concerns," Prevention Partnership Director of Training and Technical Assistance Adam Bates told Suburban Marquee. 

The HCA was preceded by other successful greater Chicago community coalitions, including the Chicago Heights South Suburban Family Wellness Alliance, founded in 2008, and the Westside Coalition for Healthy Neighborhoods, founded in 2006. 

"We've been able to transform community places where they just saw cigarettes and tobacco being sold. They were transformed into healthy hotspots, where they have apples, bananas, vegetables," Bates said. "Where they've never had that stuff before, it's cool to come into a liquor store and purchase fruits, vegetables, produce."

In Hazel Crest, the alliance primarily aims to help elementary-aged youth and their families, but "the overarching goal is community mental health and wellness for all residents," Bates said. 

Prevention Partnership has worked with state legislators and agencies, school districts, police departments and others to bring resources to Chicago's most vulnerable citizens. 

Through the Youth Advisory Council, the Prevention Partnership learns directly from local young people what they feel their community needs most. 

"What are the things that [kids] would need during the summer and fall? Anything from pointing them in the direction of scholarships, to how to access Basecamp online, how to join the Boys and Girls Club, to martial arts," Bates explained. 

Resources can vary from positive life enrichment – such as teen poetry contests – to guidance with major life decisions, such as teen pregnancy. 

One of the many issues the HCA tackles in the community is underage alcohol consumption, for which the Youth Communication Campaign and Parent Communication Campaign are available. The alliance also promotes National Prevention Week, registration and participation in the Illinois Youth Survey (IYS), a youth resource guide and a biannual drug take-back day. 

The alliance provides six locations – three in Hazel Crest and three in Country Club Hills – where residents may drop off excess, unused prescriptions to prevent controlled substances from landing in the hands of youth. 

Prevention is important, but for some young people, it comes too late. The HCA approach uses a continuum of care framework established by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This strategy looks at substance use prevention as a continuous effort through four components: promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery.

In promotion, youth are shown environments and conditions that encourage positive behavioral health and the ability to withstand challenges. 

Prevention seeks to prevent underage alcohol use or substance abuse before an active addiction is present.

In treatment and recovery, the alliance aids in standard treatments, relapses and rehabilitation.

Bates explained that the HCA has many goals and milestones on the calendar, including a long-term plan centered around boosting engagement in the IYS, which surveys students from 8th, 10th and 12th grades. 

"This is the state's instrument utilized to measure youth risk factors and substance use rates, with an emphasis on knowledge, perception and behaviors," Bates said. "The survey is critical in obtaining much-needed federal funding for community efforts."

The alliance wants to increase its presence in Country Club Hills and to continue its efforts in mental health and wellness, suicide prevention and anti-bullying/anti-violence measures in the local communities. 

Helping the community absorb the impact of families moving out of the Chicago proper into southern suburbs is another HCA goal. 

"This has been a trend over the last 10 to 15 years," Bates said. "In particular the schools do not have the tools to deal with that, because a student from Westside, Southside Chicago is not the same, does not have the same needs, does not see life the same way, and is not negotiating nor navigating his life in the same way as a student from the suburbs."

As is for many similar organizations, funding presents a significant hurdle for the HCA. Funding was initially provided to the alliance by the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Substance Abuse Prevention and Recovery through the Direct Service Prevention grant. 

"Our challenges are increasing school and community engagement, and funding development for the implementation of evidence-based model programs," Bates said. "We will continue to explore additional opportunities to complement and enhance our current service delivery structure, to respond to the current and emerging needs of the community."