Community Assessment Report released

The CTC Community Board has released the Community Assessment report that outlines the results of the youth survey completed in the spring of 2009, along with a summary of other data that provides a picture of the well-being of youth in Williams Lake.

Figuring out the risks for our kids..

The Communities That Care process focuses on understanding what is really at the root of negative behaviours, so we can prevent them in the future. The focus is on understanding what the risk factors are that make our children and youth more vulnerable, and what are the protective factors that buffer them against involvement in negative behaviour. Everyone has an opinion about what puts kids at risk, but do we really know and understand what they are? Communities That Care uses research to tell us what’s really going on with our children and youth. A survey of all students from grades 6-12 was recently done through the school system. Once we have the results, we’ll have a very clear picture of what the risks are for our youth to get involved in negative behaviours.

What is this really all about?

Communities That Care takes a community planning approach to crime prevention. The process engages the whole community in identifying priorities for addressing problem youth behaviour, and focuses on using research as a tool to guide the planning process. This model is an evidence based approach to preventing problem adolescent behaviour, including crime, violence, alcohol and drug use, school dropout, teen pregnancy and anxiety/depression. The model uses data collected from the community’s youth to develop a profile of the risk factors that are predictive of those behaviours, as well as protective factors that buffer against the risks.