For Youth

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Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care will foster collaborative community-wide initiatives involving schools, parents, neighborhoods, businesses and others that encourage and enable the youth of our community to become productive and valued citizens.

For Parents

Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care will foster collaborative community-wide initiatives involving schools, parents, neighborhoods, businesses and others that encourage and enable the youth of our community to become productive and valued citizens.

Community Coalition

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Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care will foster collaborative community-wide initiatives involving schools, parents, neighborhoods, businesses and others that encourage and enable the youth of our community to become productive and valued citizens.

History

Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care (EACTC), established in 2000, is a collaboration of schools, parents, youth, youth-serving organizations, businesses, media, law enforcement, religious, civic and fraternal groups, and county agencies serving the Elizabethtown Area School District. Members of EACTC pool their resources to build healthy, safe communities and jointly share responsibility in planning, evaluating and implementing strategies and programs that achieve common goals.

In 2006 EACTC incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania under the name of Elizabethtown Area Youth Alliance doing business as Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care. Initiatives and activities focus on collecting data  to determine community needs building positive youth development and the reduction of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATODs) abuse along with addressing other adolescent behavioral problems including delinquency, truancy, teen pregnancy and school drop- out.

Since 2010, EACTC has been designated by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (SAMHSA) as one of 711 different Drug Free Communities Support Programs (DFCSP) in the United States (6 in PA). DFCSP is a national effort to encourage communities to build a community coalition focused on reducing  substance abuse in the community.

EACTC acts as a catalyst for increased citizen participation in efforts to reduce substance use among youth by building the capacity of the communities and partner organizations to implement community initiatives and evidenced-based programs. EACTC strengthens coordination and prevention efforts, encourages citizen participation in efforts to reduce substance abuse, and disseminates information about effective programs.

A detailed timeline of our history is highlighted below.

  • 1999: A planning group of 50 interested parties research the “Communities That Care” model and apply for a Planning Grant- received for one year to collect data about the community.
  • 2000:  EACTC received a three-year “Communities That Care” grant, which funded programs such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Olweus Bully Prevention Program and many other initiatives at Elizabethtown Area School District.
  • 2002: grant received to run the Functional Family Therapy Program.
  • Mini-grants received rom Lancaster County Drug and Alcohol to do a social norming project at the high school after an initial presentation by H. Wesley Perkins, Ph.D.
  • 2006: grant received to implement a Multi-Systemic Therapy program.
  • 2004-2006: grant received from the Department of Education to fund Club Ophelia.
  • 2006-current: grant received from Lancaster County Drug and Alcohol Commission to fund Club Ophelia.
  • 2007-2009: grant received from the Lancaster County Community Foundation for administrative costs and salary.
  • 2008- 2012: Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant received from the Department of Health to support existing and new programs.
  • 2009- 2010: grant received from the PA Liquor Control Board to reduce underage drinking.
  • 2010-2015: EACTC became a federally designated and funded Drug Free Community to address the use of alcohol and marijuana. Strategies are being implemented in the community to address the reduction of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among youth. The goal of the grant is to engage community members in identifying and implementing local solutions to local problems.
  • 2015: received a second Drug Free Communities grant.
  • 2018: EACTC was awarded the federal CARA Local Drug Crises grant to address youth opioid abuse
  • 2020: EACTC was awarded a grant through the PA Liquor Control Board to support underage alcohol use and abuse prevention
  • 2021: EACTC was awarded a second CARA Local Drug Crises grant to address youth opioid abuse
  • 2022: EACTC was awarded a grant through the PA Liquor Control Board to support underage alcohol use and abuse prevention