Communities That Care Coalition

A group of communities in Franklin County, MA, formed The Communities That Care Coalition (CTC) to address alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among youth. CTC takes a data-driven approach to identify needs and implement evidence-based interventions. CTC has implemented many community programs since 2002, including alcoholic beverage server training, research-based parent education, and the promotion of youth recognition in schools. To guide its efforts, the coalition has developed Community Action Plans that identify goals and objectives, priority areas for work, and strategies and programs to address those areas. Coalition members include individuals from local government, businesses, schools, law enforcement, faith-based organizations, media, hospitals, mental health providers, parent advocates, and out-of-school-time programs.

The Communities That Care Coalition's mission is to bring Franklin County schools, parents, youth and the community together to promote protective factors, reduce risk factors, prevent substance use and other risky behaviors, and improve young people's ability to reach their full potential and thrive.

Over the decade of its existence, CTC has seen declines in local youth substance use and has received national recognition for its work. CTC set a goal of reducing teen alcohol use, cigarette use, marijuana use, and binge drinking by 10% between 2003-2012. As of 2009, it had already far exceeded these behavioral goals: 30-day use use of alcohol among 8th graders decreased from 30% to 19%; cigarette use decreased from 14% to 7%; marijuana use decreased from 18% to 8%; and 2-week binge drinking among 12th graders decreased from 48% to 27%. CTC has also measured substantial progress towards its goals in two other target areas, risk factors and protective factors.