Step Two:  ASSESS THE COMMUNITY

During Step One, you were encouraged to conduct brainstorming sessions to identify what your group considered to be important substance use problem areas, their adverse effects on the community, potential stakeholders who might support prevention efforts, and potential barriers to implementing prevention efforts. You were also encouraged to develop a mission statement to help guide your future process. This informal brainstorming process is critical to help you define, in somewhat broad ways, the general types of problem areas you want to address and to build a foundation of support from other potential stakeholders.

Although important and useful, that process is subjective. It draws on you and your group’s experiences, perceptions, and knowledge. Thus, once you have identified a general problem area that you would like to address, it is important to gather information in more formal and systematic ways. For example, in relation to the problem area you have identified, it is important to gain an objective understanding of the scope of the problem, the severity of the problem, the significance of the problem to the community, and the ability of the community to support prevention efforts.

This information-gathering process focuses on three broad areas: (1) an assessment of community risk factors, (2) an assessment of community protective factors and resources, and (3) an assessment of the community’s readiness to support a prevention effort.