Mat-Su Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition

Data Project

A United Way of Mat-Su Initiative

Mission Statement

The mission of the Mat-Su Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is to reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse.

Attention: Physicians and Mental Health Professionals

Mat-Su Physicians and Mental Health Professionals Survey

Thank you for taking time to complete this survey.

Scope of Work

United Way of Mat-Su has awarded a grant for the collection and analysis of community-specific data regarding substance abuse.  United Way of Mat-Su wants assistance in 1) completing a Data Review of available local data for the years 2002 to 2007, and 2) conducting a Community Assessment to assess the nature and scope of substance abuse issues within the Mat-Su Borough.

The Data Review will include a retrospective data summary from 2002 to the present that will serve as a benchmark for key stakeholders at the state and borough levels. Data from the following key stakeholders will be included in the review:

    1. Mat-Su Borough School District
    2. Law enforcement
    3. Behavioral health providers
    4. DHSS Department of Corrections
    5. Health providers
    6. DHSS Office of Children’s Services
    7. DHSS Division of Behavioral health
    8. DHSS Division of Juvenile Justice
    9. Department of Motor Vehicles
    10. Other relevant health & social service providers

The Community Assessment will be used to define problems, identify resources and measure readiness within the Mat-Su Borough so that needs and opportunities can be properly integrated into an overall plan for addressing substance abuse. It will allow the coalition to tell its story in quantifiable terms to key stakeholders at the borough, state and federal levels.  It will help establish a process for the collection of specific measures from key stakeholders on an ongoing basis. 

This Community Assessment process will include:

  1. Defining all statistically valid and reliable data sources within the borough for present and future collection and analysis;
  2. Creating sustainable mechanisms to collect in a uniform way from key stakeholders at the borough level valid and reliable local data on core measures of substance abuse and prevention. The goal is to provide a basis for evidence-based strategies for prevention and treatment of substance abuse. Core measures will include
    1. Economic impacts of substance abuse within the borough, such as:
      1. Cost to individual agency / stakeholder group
      2. Cost to private businesses
      3. Cost in terms of public dollars
      4. Costs to individual borough resident
    2. Trends in substance use for youth inside and outside the school system, such as:
      1. Average age of onset of any drug use, drug gateway, vehicle and source
      2. Past 30 day use
    3. Trends in underlying factors that impact youth substance use, such as:
      1. Perception of risk or harm
      2. Perception of parental disapproval of use
      3. Defined resiliency-based indicators
    4. Recidivism rates for youth and success rates of individual substance abuse treatment and prevention programs in Mat-Su
  3. Producing a Key Indicators Report that can be replicated every two years via the mechanisms set in place.

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CoDI Staff working on the Data Project include:
Randy Moss Ph.D., Executive Director
Michelle Grimes MS, Project Coordinator
Kristine Campbell, Research Assistant/Web Master
Deborah Shade, V.P. of Operations