Transcript WINDS OF CHANGE

WINDS OF CHANGE
A Pemberton / Mount Currie
Drug and Alcohol
Task Force Report
AGENDA
• Mount Currie and Pemberton – A Community Snapshot
• Valley Background
• Call to Action
• Our Approach and Methodology
• Our Vision
• Our Recommended Tactics
• Next Steps
• Lessons Learned
A Community Snapshot - Population
• Pemberton and Mount Currie have experienced a
“population explosion” since 1996
• The following table summarizes the growth:
1996
2001 2003 2004 % Chg
Mount Currie
1267
1428
1633
1854
146%
Pemberton
857
1637
1997
2117
233%
Community Snapshot - Profile
•
Mount Currie Band
– Is a First Nation – known as the
Lil’wat Nation with a reserve land
base of 6000 acres. The
development of the Lil’wat
Nations economic base continues.
-
Key infrastructure includes:
•
A Community School (K-12)
•
An Adult Education Center
•
A Health Center (but no acute
care services) and Daycare
Center
•
Tribal Police
• Pemberton
– Is a medium sized Village
– Historically was a logging and
agricultural community
– Is now adding tourism as a
key industry
– Key infrastructure includes:
• 1 high school and 1 elementary
school
• Diagnostic & treatment centre
• airport
• RCMP
Valley Background
• Pemberton and Mount Currie are two neighboring
communities located about 30 minutes north of Whistler
• Historically, there have been many diverse challenges to
working together, including:
– Different jurisdictional frameworks (the Municipality of
Pemberton and the First Nation council of Mount Currie)
– Cultural differences
– A lack of understanding the differences of the communities, and
using these differences to work against each other
• The 6km difference between the communities does not
truly reflect the “distance”
A Community Snapshot – The Problem
• Parents and youth in both communities perceive that the
most used substances are alcohol and marijuana
• To a much lesser extent, there is also use of
cocaine/crack
• There is a high degree of tolerance for alcohol and
marijuana use
• Alcohol and marijuana are easy to obtain (other drugs
are more difficult, but not impossible)
• Alcohol and drug services are very limited
Source – Focus Groups & One on One interviews
The Call to Action
• Things changed in May 2002
• The tragic death of a Mount Currie youth caused both
Pemberton and Mount Currie residents to put pressure
on their elected officials
• WE decided it was time to do something serious about
the drug and alcohol issues of our joint communities
• WE could no longer use our differences to work against
each other; WE needed to trust, understand, and work
with each other to develop strategies and plans to
reshape our future
The Call to Action
• The Mount Currie Band Council and the Village of Pemberton
Council formed a Joint Task Force with the goal of increasing the
safety of our communities by reducing harm associated with drugs
and alcohol
• The Task Force established an 8 week project timeline
• We quickly learned that WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT WE DIDN”T
KNOW
• And so, we looked for support from the Kaiser Foundation and the
Centre for Addictions Research of BC
• 8 months later, solutions were starting to be identified and
implementation planning initiated
Our Approach and Methodology
The Task Force adopted a four phase methodology
Phase One – Understanding the Community
•
•
•
Understanding the social, cultural and economic factors that shape our
community
Understand the patterns of risky substance use and associated harms
Understand some of the key baseline data
Phase Two – Strategy Development
•
•
Development of a Strategic Vision
Developing recommendations, establishing priorities, developing tactical
action plans
Phase Three – Action
•
Executing tactical implementation plans
Phase Four – Evaluation
•
Conducting Post Implementation Reviews and evaluating results
Our Vision
We are neighbours, friends and relatives
working together to reduce the harmful effects
of drugs and alcohol on our communities. We
respect our differences and find strength in the
common goal of a healthy and safe
environment for our children and families
Task Force Recommendations
The Task Force developed the following 4 categories of
recommendations – the categories representing
THE WINDS OF CHANGE:
1. The North Wind – Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices
2. The South Wind – Increasing Awareness
3. The East Wind – Improving Services
4. The West Wind – Community Leadership and Responsibility
Recommendations – North Wind
Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices
1.
Conduct a joint community wellness campaign
2.
Solicit community group support to sponsor events promoting
healthy activities
3.
Maximize development of recreational and leisure
infrastructure
Recommendations – South Wind
Increasing Awareness
4.
Conduct a joint public awareness program promoting
personal knowledge and good social policy
5.
Coordinate multi-partner regulation and enforcement teams to
address problems related to the sale and consumption of
tobacco and alcohol
6.
Produce and publicize an easily accessible alcohol and drug
resource directory
Recommendations – East Wind
Improving Services
7.
Encourage Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to provide
increased services in the Valley
8.
Ensure that increased public transit between communities
remains a priority
9.
Create a Community Coalition to develop and operate a
Sobering Centre that is available 7 by 24 and that is separate
from a jail cell
10.
Encourage community agencies to develop broad services
that address harms from substance use
Recommendations – West Wind
Community Leadership and Responsibility
11.
Ensure visible and effective leadership support and
commitment to this program
12.
Complete a review of all existing regulations related to
tobacco and alcohol and assess opportunities for the
application and enforcement of existing or new regulations
and guidelines
13.
Ensure both the Mount Currie and Pemberton Councils
continue to promote ways to reduce social tensions and to
encourage positive relationships
Next Steps
• Transition the Task Force Strategy and
Recommendations to the HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
COMMITTEE for further implementation planning and for
action
• Review the “baseline data” to identify what will be useful for
the ongoing monitoring and evaluation
• Initiate further implementation work
Lessons Learned
We have categorized our learnings into 2 categories:
1. What would we do the same; and
2. What would we do differently;
Lessons Learned
-- What Would We Do the Same
 Engaging and maintaining
 Using community focus groups
community involvement
to provide input, and also to
break down barriers
 Effective media promotion and
support
 A planned transition to the
Healthy Community
Committee
 Visible commitment and
support of community leaders
 An emphasis on WE and not
US AND THEM
 Understand that this is a
process and not an event
 Effective use of external
expertise with ongoing
community ownership
 A focus on “doing” using what
we have versus delaying
because of what we don’t have
Lessons Learned
What Would We Do Differently
 An up front focus on managing expectations;
 Develop a plan to deal with the pressure to “take action”
 Establish a more realistic timeline up front
 Try and ensure continuity of the people involved
 Define success measures up front
 Be proactive instead of reactive
Questions