Our vision is to foster the development of an environment where families, schools, agencies, and the community work together to provide children with the skills necessary to maximize their potential to become competent, caring, healthy, responsible adults.
Putting together a puzzle requires all the pieces to fit together, starting with the frame and working inward with all the interlocking pieces until the puzzle takes shape and the picture emerges.
Raising healthy children requires all the pieces of their life to fit together as their individual picture emerges.
The puzzle pieces in the life of a child are family, community, friends, and school. We must all work together to help our children succeed.
The Armstrong County Communities That Care initiative is about bringing all the puzzle pieces of a child’s life together.
In Armstrong County, we are a group of concerned people who want to make a difference in the lives of our youth. We focus on adolescents and the problems of substance abuse and delinquency.
We come from all walks of life…We work in social service agencies and healthcare…We are from schools…We represent the criminal justice community…and many of us are parents and grandparents. Some are business leaders…Some are from the faith community…Some are teens. The thing that unites us is our commitment to helping our youth.
The Armstrong County Communities That Care group involves all the pieces of the community coming together to help our children.
We conducted three county-wide studies of adolescent problems. We found that the top two problems were substance abuse and delinquency.
Out of the twenty risk factors that contribute to adolescent problems, the top five risk factors for Armstrong County were determined to be the following:
1) Availability of drugs
2) Early initiation of the problem behavior
3) Community laws and norms favorable toward drug use
4) Family history of the problem behavior
5) Transitions and mobility
For a complete review of the 2007 Pennsylvania At-Risk Youth Survey (PAYS) Risk Assessment, click here
Now that we know what the problems are, we will work together as pieces of an interlocking puzzle to change the big picture of adolescent problems in our community.
We want to reduce teen substance abuse problems and delinquency rates in our adolescents. To accomplish this, we need to involve the community.
The Armstrong County Communities That Care group is only as strong as all the pieces of the puzzle fitting together. The last piece of the puzzle is YOU! We need you to be involved. Join with us to help our youth.
Contact Armstrong County Communities That Care for information at 724-354-2746.