Town Hall II: A Call to Action
In March 2008 participants joined together to combat the epidemic of underage drinking. They explored protective factors like interacting with prosocial peers, teaching youth about moral order, and providing youth rewards for prosocial involvement like volunteering, and brainstormed how to reduce risk factors to reduce underage drinking.

Prevention: Risk and Protective Factors

Wahkiakum Community Network follows the Communities That Care (CTC) model to provide research-based tools to help communities mobilize to promote the positive development of children and youth and to prevent adolescent problem behaviors that impede positive development including substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school dropout, and violence.

The CTC process was developed by David Hawkins, Ph.D. and Richard Catalano, Ph.D. to help communities plan, implement, and evaluate proven-effective prevention programs in four domains: individual, family, school, community. Hawkins and Catalano work has centered on what they call "risk and protective factors" to make changes in problem behaviors.

Wahkiakum Community Network measures Wahkiakum County and Washington State changes in risk and protective factors with the Healthy Youth Survey. This survey is implemented in Wahkiakum and Naselle-Grays River School Districts every biennium. To learn more about the Healthy Youth Survey please visit http://www3.doh.wa.gov/HYS.

Results of outcomes from the 2006 Healthy Youth Survey for Wahkiakum County: