3.5.4  Assign Responsibilities to the Team and Task Forces

Educate task members that their role is to support capacity building and to plan ways to support implementing effective, research-based efforts that specifically address local problems and needs. Assign certain individuals to short-term and long-term planning teams with specific goals, such as planning courses of action, identifying and accessing resources, or evaluating a specific activity.

Provide them with a reasonable expectation for the duration of their team, which may range from several weeks to many months. Provide them with a specific idea of their expected outcome. For short-term task forces, their expected outcome may be a brief report and presentation that outlines points and strategies for effective action and the resources required for carrying that out. Longer-term and implementation teams are charged with making the strategic plan a reality, such as obtaining funding for prevention program maintenance.

Initiate planning teams with a statement of the goals of their work, including changes in substance use behavior. Working backward, the team can identify prevention approaches that are appropriate to the targeted community need, risk, and protective factors, and are in line with existing resources.