Elizabethtown Area Communities That Care (EACTC) has been working in Elizabethtown since 1999 when a group of concerned community citizens came together to try to figure out how to address what were perceived as escalating adolescent problems in the community. This group of concerned citizens looked to national and state expertise for answers. What was working in other communities? What would work in Elizabethtown? The Communities That Care (CTC) model was the answer.
CTC was being implemented in communities across the nation and across Pennsylvania with good results. At the time CTC was being implemented in over 127 communities right here in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and then Governor Ridge felt so strongly about the positive results obtainable that they made it possible for local communities to implement CTC by providing training, technical assistance, materials, and dollars to get CTCs started.
Communities That Care brings community members interested in positive youth development together to focus on the prevention of adolescent problem behaviors. These behaviors include:
- Delinquency
- Substance Abuse
- Violence
- School Drop Out
- Teen Pregnancy
- Depression
How is that possible? Just as science tells us how we can prevent heart attacks, science can also tell us how to prevent adolescent problem behaviors. Research done on the CTC model confirms what we know– CTC works.
EACTC’s Policies on Non-Discrimination and Harassment