Partnership For Success

The Partnership for Success (PFS) project aims to support Kandiyohi, Renville, and Yellow Medicine Counties to prevent the initiation and reduce current levels of underage drinking, marijuana use, and vaping in the community among youth aged 9-20 years. PFS collaborates with the county’s Chemical Health Coalitions - Renville Alliance for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drugs (RAPAD), Kandiyohi County Drug-Free Coalition, and Yellow Medicine Chemical Health Coalition (CHC) to build capacity within the county coalitions, implement a multi-strategy campaign to target community norms and address accessibility to substances. The two main goals of the PFS project are:

Goal 1. Utilize the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to increase the capacity of school districts and organizations in Kandiyohi, Renville, and Yellow Medicine Counties to implement effective prevention programming to reduce substance use by youth ages 9-20.

Goal 2: To reduce youth substance use in Kandiyohi, Renville, and Yellow Medicine counties by implementing effective evidence-based and promising practices as developed through the Strategic Prevention Framework under the direction of the leadership team in each county.

One key strategy to support PFS prevention efforts will be to use the Positive Community Norms Model (PCN). PCN is a philosophical framework based on the Science of the Positive, supported through years of research to integrate the best of several models to address social inequities.

The work of promoting positive community norms is to create a context of supportive, safe, stable, and nurturing relationships. It involves focusing on actual norms and correcting misperceptions of norms. This model has been used extensively in the State of Minnesota through local prevention coalitions.

For more information on the PFS Grant Project, contact:

Annie Tepfer, Program Director, anna.tepfer@pactforfamilies.org

Sarah Vonderharr, Prevention Specialist, sarah.vonderharr@pactforfamilies.org