Step Four:  DETERMINE READINESS FOR ACTION

In Step Three, you were provided with recommendations and tools to develop an action plan designed to prepare and increase the readiness of your program and your community’s readiness for action. As mentioned earlier, readiness for action can be defined as having the interest, ability, and willingness to initiate substance abuse prevention efforts.

Step Three involves considerable work and lays the foundation for implementing the prevention effort. In part because some of the tasks involved in Step Three, such as working to develop a community coalition (when appropriate) are time consuming, considerable time can pass between earlier planning stages and later implementation stages. During this time, human and other resources may shift and change. As a result, it is valuable to take stock of your situation and review the results of your action plan, ensure the adequacy of program resources, review training needs, review with staff policies and procedures, prepare for resistance, and consider the need for additional partners.