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Rooks County Communities That Care Committee

Little Stockton, Kansas

Town Hall Meeting Draws Concerned Citizens

Introduction
Stockton, Kansas, is a small town of fewer than 1,400 residents and the county seat of Rooks County, which has a population of 5,000.  Despite their small size, the town and county have a large commitment to keeping its young people healthy, safe, and free from alcohol and other drugs.  Every year, the Rooks County Communities That Care Committee hosts a Town Hall Meeting on substance abuse prevention.  Progress is being made.  For example, according to the Rooks County Community Report—based on the Kansas Strategic Prevention Framework data—binge drinking by students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 declined from a high of 17.84 percent in 2011 to 11.43 percent in 2014.

Much of the work to achieve such prevention gains is performed by the Rooks County Communities That Care Committee, formed in 1998 as a countywide coalition for preventing underage drinking and other high-risk youth behaviors.  The Committee’s contributions to community well-being include parent education and alternative activities for youth.  The Committee operates under the auspices of the Rooks County Health Department.

Event Description
The Rooks County Communities That Care Committee uses its annual Town Hall Meeting to report local data, confront unhealthy alcohol norms in the community, and educate parents about their role in prevention. For the 2014 event, the Committee also planned to reach community youth, their parents, and other adults with information about the consequences of adolescent alcohol use, including risks for death or injury on the road and tips for preventing alcohol use by minors.

About 300 individuals—or 1 in 17 Rooks County residents—participated in the April 9 event.  The appeal of motivational speaker Jared Estes, survivor of a fiery highway crash caused by an alcohol-impaired driver, did much to attract the audience.  Estes’ participation in a radio talk show heard across northwest Kansas helped promote interest in the Town Hall Meeting, prompting one youth group to make the 60-mile trip to Stockton and to make plans to hold a similar event in their community.  Attendance was also prompted by the area churches, which agreed to invite their traditional Wednesday night groups to the event.  Organizers also offered Visa gift cards as door prizes as an added participant incentive.

Measures of Success
Many participating young people indicated via an informal post-event quiz that they had learned something from the Town Hall Meeting that would help them avoid alcohol in future.  Parents volunteered that they came away with a better understanding of why alcohol use by children and adolescents is dangerous and what they can do to prevent it.  Event coordinator Lorraine Baughman received several calls from area residents thanking her and the Rooks County Communities That Care Committee for organizing the event.  Baughman sees falling rates in the prevalence of underage drinking in Rooks County in recent years as clear evidence that the Committee’s work, specifically the annual Town Hall Meetings, is effective.

Next Steps
The Committee will continue to educate county residents about underage drinking as a serious public health issue and ways to prevent it via the Rooks County Health Department’s Facebook page.  The successful collaboration with church leaders in Rooks County in planning the 2014 Town Hall Meeting will be the basis for ongoing efforts to enlist the aid of the area’s influential faith leaders in persuading parents to keep children away from alcohol at home and to support alcohol laws in the community.  The Committee also will urge churches to deliver prevention messages to youth directly.  A 2015 Town Hall Meeting will serve to update Rooks County residents on underage drinking data and continuing progress in lowering its prevalence.

Contact
Lorraine Baughman
rooksco@ruraltel.net


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