Communities That Care

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · J. David Hawkins, Richard F. Catalano · University of Washington

What it is

Communities That Care (CTC) is not a therapy. It is a community-level prevention operating system: a coached, five-phase process in which a community coalition uses local youth survey data to pick a few priority risk and protective factors, then chooses, funds, delivers and monitors…

Format

• Theory of change: guided by the Social Development Model. Young people adopt healthy behaviour when the people and groups they are bonded to (family, school, community, peers) hold healthy beliefs and clear standards. Bonding grows when youth get developmentally appropriate opportunities to take…
• Who this is for: a clinician who is (a) the paid CTC coordinator/facilitator, (b) a Community Board or workgroup member representing mental health, or (c) a provider delivering a programme chosen in a CTC action plan. The individual and family applications of the Social Development Strategy in…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Licensing and support (CTC PLUS). Communities contract with the Center for CTC for licensing. The current package includes a CTC specialist who leads a Key Leader Orientation on site in Year 1. The local coordinator/facilitator attends a three-day training in Year 1 and then runs the CTC web-assisted workshops locally, using instructional videos, guides and online progress-monitoring tools. Coaching runs up to three…
• Older series (pre-CTC PLUS), still taught by some state partners such as Penn State EPIS. Strategic Consultation (1 day); Coordinator Training (2 days); Key Leaders' Orientation (2–4 h); Community Board Orientation (1.5–2 days); Community Assessment Training (1 day); Community Resources Assessment Training (1 day); Community Planning Training (1.5–2 days); Community Plan Implementation Training plus…
• Timeline. One brief describes the five phases taking about a year, with a certified CTC trainer giving technical assistance in each phase. CTC PLUS puts programme costs from Year 2 onward.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• A plan nobody with budget authority has signed. Working sign: formal endorsement minutes.
• Deficit wording ("drug-free" only). Working sign: board members can paraphrase the vision.
• Ticking boxes without real board decisions. Working sign: benchmark dates match the minutes.
• One workgroup doing everything. Meetings without decisions. Working sign: minutes record decisions and owners.
• All programmes riding on one grant. Working sign: a multi-year budget with at least two sources per programme.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.