Great Valley Community
Partnership for Healthy Youth
Phone: 484.886.8437
gvphy@umly.org
History
The History of PHY
Where did PHY originate and how did it get where it is today?
The Great Valley Community Partnership for Healthy Youth, or PHY, is the community’s only collaborative partnership committed to increasing the positive behaviors of our local youth through networking, and planning, offering and supporting research based prevention programming.
PHY was created as an expansion of the Community Leadership Council, (CLC), which was a partnership between the Great Valley School District, Paoli Hospital and the Council on Addictive Diseases (The COAD Group.) The CLC created community awareness and mobilized the community with its many different constituencies to join together for a common cause. Its mission was “to develop effective community based initiatives to decrease substance abuse among our community’s young people.”
The CLC’s ability to impact the community was enhanced when in 1999, it adopted the Communities that Care® (CTC) model under the fiscal agency of The COAD Group. By adopting this model, financial resources became available, coordination of efforts and clerical/grant writing assistance through COAD staff was accessible, and the model was research based…helping to identify risk factors, resources and proven effective programs to address our community’s risks.
The Communities that Care® process is an operating system that provides 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 to help communities plan, implement, and evaluate proven-effective prevention programs to meet their unique needs. These programs can address some or all focus areas- family, school, community-based youth, and community.
It is a comprehensive, research-based, community mobilization and planning model that was developed to assist communities in creating a unique and integrated approach to the positive development of youth.
Communities that Care® is a process, not a program, that helps establish goals to build a healthier community. The CTC® model is used throughout Southeastern PA, across the state, all over the U.S. and around the world. There are 6 CTC sites in Chester County including Downingtown, Kennett, Octorara, Phoenixville, West Chester and Great Valley.
PHY was awarded seed money from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to implement the Communities That Care® process.
PHY used grant money to secure a part-time community mobilizer in 2001 The scope of the work became large enough that the volunteers were unable to fulfill all aspects of PHY’s mission. In 2005 we were able to move to a fulltime community mobilizer. This change was perhaps the single most important advancement as it now allows the implementation of our variety of programs and events.
The Coad Group served as the fiscal agent for PHY until 2006 when the Upper Main Line YMCA became the fiscal agent. Then our Commnity Mobilizer became a paid Y employee. This important step provided the opportunity for the PHY Advisory Board members to use the grants they applied for and were awarded for programs and events to support the mission rather than for administrative costs.
Our mission is “Forging a partnership of prevention resources and programs for youth and their families.”
The Great Valley Community Partnership for Healthy Youth is the community’s only collaborative partnership committed to increasing the positive behaviors of our local youth through networking, planning, offering and supporting research-based prevention programming.
The organization’s community board consists of key community leaders who are committed to making Great Valley a vital and involved community. Members of the community board include parents, youth, local business leaders, government and law enforcement officials, ministers, healthcare agencies, Great Valley School District administrators and teachers, and youth and service organizations. This partnership has worked for more than nine years toward the goal of heightening awareness of risky behaviors and focusing on solutions as well as bridging community resources and efforts that promote healthy youth and families.
The research basis for the actions and programs offered by PHY is the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) which is administered to 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade students across the state and provides specific self-reported information about the level of risky behavior of the youth in our community, region, state and national comparisons.
PAYS allows PHY to address the actual issues surrounding our youth. We also use information from our youth and parent focus groups, input from the community board members and current in the news issues to direct our efforts.
Where did PHY originate and how did it get where it is today?
The Great Valley Community Partnership for Healthy Youth, or PHY, is the community’s only collaborative partnership committed to increasing the positive behaviors of our local youth through networking, and planning, offering and supporting research based prevention programming.
PHY was created as an expansion of the Community Leadership Council, (CLC), which was a partnership between the Great Valley School District, Paoli Hospital and the Council on Addictive Diseases (The COAD Group.) The CLC created community awareness and mobilized the community with its many different constituencies to join together for a common cause. Its mission was “to develop effective community based initiatives to decrease substance abuse among our community’s young people.”
The CLC’s ability to impact the community was enhanced when in 1999, it adopted the Communities that Care® (CTC) model under the fiscal agency of The COAD Group. By adopting this model, financial resources became available, coordination of efforts and clerical/grant writing assistance through COAD staff was accessible, and the model was research based…helping to identify risk factors, resources and proven effective programs to address our community’s risks.
The Communities that Care® process is an operating system that provides 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 to help communities plan, implement, and evaluate proven-effective prevention programs to meet their unique needs. These programs can address some or all focus areas- family, school, community-based youth, and community.
It is a comprehensive, research-based, community mobilization and planning model that was developed to assist communities in creating a unique and integrated approach to the positive development of youth.
Communities that Care® is a process, not a program, that helps establish goals to build a healthier community. The CTC® model is used throughout Southeastern PA, across the state, all over the U.S. and around the world. There are 6 CTC sites in Chester County including Downingtown, Kennett, Octorara, Phoenixville, West Chester and Great Valley.
PHY was awarded seed money from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to implement the Communities That Care® process.
PHY used grant money to secure a part-time community mobilizer in 2001 The scope of the work became large enough that the volunteers were unable to fulfill all aspects of PHY’s mission. In 2005 we were able to move to a fulltime community mobilizer. This change was perhaps the single most important advancement as it now allows the implementation of our variety of programs and events.
The Coad Group served as the fiscal agent for PHY until 2006 when the Upper Main Line YMCA became the fiscal agent. Then our Commnity Mobilizer became a paid Y employee. This important step provided the opportunity for the PHY Advisory Board members to use the grants they applied for and were awarded for programs and events to support the mission rather than for administrative costs.
Our mission is “Forging a partnership of prevention resources and programs for youth and their families.”
The Great Valley Community Partnership for Healthy Youth is the community’s only collaborative partnership committed to increasing the positive behaviors of our local youth through networking, planning, offering and supporting research-based prevention programming.
The organization’s community board consists of key community leaders who are committed to making Great Valley a vital and involved community. Members of the community board include parents, youth, local business leaders, government and law enforcement officials, ministers, healthcare agencies, Great Valley School District administrators and teachers, and youth and service organizations. This partnership has worked for more than nine years toward the goal of heightening awareness of risky behaviors and focusing on solutions as well as bridging community resources and efforts that promote healthy youth and families.
The research basis for the actions and programs offered by PHY is the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) which is administered to 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade students across the state and provides specific self-reported information about the level of risky behavior of the youth in our community, region, state and national comparisons.
PAYS allows PHY to address the actual issues surrounding our youth. We also use information from our youth and parent focus groups, input from the community board members and current in the news issues to direct our efforts.
July 15, 2010
Great Valley Community Partnership for Healthy Youth (PHY)Partnership for Healthy Youth (PHY)
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