Determine Readiness for Action

After developing the action plan, members of the parent coalition determined if they were ready to implement all of the action steps. After reviewing the action plan, they realized that they needed to expand their coalition to gain a broader base of support. This support would assist the coalition in obtaining resources, additional funding, training needs, and so forth. The parents began talking to some of the key decisionmakers, such as the mayor and the local business association, to encourage participation and support for their efforts. In addition, the parents approached potential adversaries. Included in this group was a business owner who owned several liquor stores in Danyaville and made a substantial profit due to youth purchasing alcohol. The Danyaville Parents Advocating Prevention (DPAP) members met with this merchant to discuss their efforts. In the course of the meeting, several common values were identified. However, the business owner continued to contend that it was the parents’ responsibility to ensure that their teens do not purchase substances, not the merchants. Although the parents tried to persuade the store owner that decreasing youth alcohol consumption is the responsibility of the community, they were unsuccessful. Rather than ending the meeting with an argument, the parties involved agreed to disagree. The meeting did end with an important compromise. If the coalition provided materials for merchant education, the business owner would support their efforts. The parents agreed, and they added the development of merchant education materials to their action plan.

One year after the first meeting conducted by the Hardens, the DPAP received grant funding. The coalition was ecstatic. With money in the treasury, they were closer to achieving their goals. The next step involved several simultaneous tasks. Using the data they collected from their community assessment and their partnership with the local advertising firm, the coalition implemented a media advocacy effort to alert the rest of the community to the alcohol-related problems and the proposed policy solutions. The campaign was designed to be an ongoing effort focusing attention on the policy implications of youth access to alcohol. At the same time, another subcommittee of the coalition collaborated with the police department to make sure that all the policies and procedures were in place to conduct the compliance checks. The police officers had been trained on how to conduct the checks, young adults had been recruited for the purchase attempts, and the merchant education information was produced. Finally, additional opinionmakers and advocates were recruited to further support the prevention effort. A news release was then prepared. The news release checklist enabled the coalition to develop a focused announcement and prepared to report the events appropriately.