Introduction
In many communities, youth substance abuse is becoming a more worrisome problem. According to surveys, 1 in 8 American teenagers has struggled with substance abuse at some point. This is tragic because adolescent substance abuse can result in a wide range of serious health problems and unfavorable life outcomes. The alarm is being raised by the issue of juvenile drug addiction in many communities today. It is an issue that has caused many communities to experience hopelessness and struggle in various ways. In this essay, I will talk about how doing a windshield evaluation helped me comprehend this issue and how it affects a community. There will be a discussion of at least two social work journal research publications that support a potential solution to address this issue in communities. Also, a strategy for evaluating whether the approach is effective will be given. Windshield evaluations may be a potent tool for empowering communities by addressing issues that are important to the community. Examining the physical surroundings, seeing how people interact, and comprehending the viewpoints and values of the local population are all part of this evaluation form.
A windshield assessment is often the first step used to identify the root cause of a social problem or issue. Creating and executing solutions is considerably simpler after identifying the problem’s root cause. This was the situation for the community that was the subject of this evaluation. Drug misuse among young people is a major problem in many communities. Drug misuse is a major cause of many social and medical ills, such as mental health disorders, physical health issues, and criminal activity. As a result, community members must provide practical answers that may meaningfully address this problem. The windshield assessment’s function in comprehending the problem will be examined in this article. It will also provide a potential solution to the problem and include an evaluation strategy to show its efficacy.
Windshield Assessment
The windshield assessment is an assessor’s attempt to compile information about a place required to comprehend the problem and evaluate its severity. Finding the problem is the first step in any windshield examination. Residents of this town have named the issue of juvenile drug addiction as their top concern. The study revealed juvenile drug misuse has existed in the neighborhood for many years. Other unfavorable effects of this issue include a rise in gang activity, marital violence, and high school dropouts. Moreover, these effects have permanently harmed the community’s economic structure. The windshield assessment thoroughly analyzes the community’s assets, problems, and ongoing initiatives associated with the problem under investigation.
In the example of teen drug abuse, the windshield assessment focused on the kinds of substances misused, where they are accessible, who is using them, and why, as well as local actions already in place to address this issue. The evaluation process included talking to locals, monitoring local activities, and researching the prevalence of drug misuse. The windshield assessment was very important in helping to understand the difficulties the community is now dealing with since it provided a comprehensive view of the area and identified particular issues that need attention (O’Connell et al., 2009).
Solution Youth Substance Abuse
I recently assessed the windshield to help me better understand this problem. The windshield evaluation occurred in a low-income neighborhood with a high crime rate and other unfavorable social indicators. Public health professionals, government officials, school administrators, and community members were all consulted. I could better understand the scope of the issue by speaking with these people. It was discovered that young people in this area abuse drugs severely. Due to socioeconomic disadvantages, mental health issues, a lack of educational opportunities, and widespread peer pressure, many community youths are dealing with substance abuse problems. The information gathered during the windshield assessment showed that the community requires more access to addiction treatment and prevention services.
My proposal for addressing this issue of concern is to promote increased funding for community-based addiction treatment and prevention initiatives. In particular, I want to expand the availability of reasonably priced addiction treatment programs by enhancing financial support for mental health services. To have easier access to employment and educational possibilities, I will request more funding for preventative initiatives, which will be ideal for addressing the primary root causes of the issue; these steps would assist in lowering the prevalence of substance abuse in the community. By funding these initiatives, we can contribute to developing a setting where young people feel secure, supported, and inspired to make wise decisions.
The study team was able to identify better the causes of teenage drug misuse via windshield evaluation. It soon became obvious that a lack of worthwhile activities for the young communities was the primary source of the issue. The team saw that many young people had limited access to good educational and leisure opportunities. Youth also turned to drugs to deal with the demands of daily life due to a lack of career possibilities and the support of family, peers, and the community. According to the windscreen assessment, the only option to address the problem of teenage drug misuse was to design an intervention that offered resources for the family and the community and constructive activities for the young. This program will be put into action via a variety of various tactics.
First and foremost, the program must provide services and resources that are simple to access. One way to achieve this is to collaborate with neighborhood agencies and groups that can provide counseling, instruction, and mentoring to at-risk adolescents. It is also crucial that the program provide access to psychiatric and medical treatments and resources for mental health and drug addiction screening. This will allow program administrators to determine the community’s most pressing needs and the best actions to meet them (Sahar et al., 2020).
To succeed, a diverse range of stakeholders must be included in the community-based intervention program. Together with other community members, this may include academic, mental health, legal, and public health members. By inviting these many stakeholders to participate in the program, they will have the opportunity to exchange ideas, knowledge, and resources, all of which may help address the problem in the community. A windshield assessment’s results may be used to develop strategies and interventions for dealing with the issue of teenage drug misuse. Interventions might include after-school programs, community-wide campaigns, family counseling, education initiatives, and school-based preventative programs. It is crucial to remember that no one solution works for all problems, including the use of drugs by young people, and that interventions must be adapted to the particular requirements of the community (Drug Identification and Testing in the Juvenile Justice System, 1998).
An effective solution to the problem of substance abuse among young people is to foster an environment that emphasizes prevention and equips young people with the tools and resources they need to resist the allure of drugs and alcohol. Evidence-based interventions, including education and awareness campaigns, creating youth-friendly health services, implementing school-based substance misuse prevention programs, and creating social support for those affected, are the most effective way to achieve this goal.
Supportive Research Articles
The after-school program must have a community plan that is identified and implemented to be successful. As a result, a community-focused approach needs to be used. This plan should utilize empowerment-based interventions that enhance the people’s strengths in the community. This entails forging strong ties with the neighborhood and involving people in problem-solving. The first study to be examined is titled Empowering evaluation: A practical technique for improving stakeholder engagement and process ownership. It was published in Families in Society—the book Counseling Outcome Research and Assessment by C. J. Sheperis and B. Bayles (2022). The paper examines social service organizations’ harm reduction strategies to combat drug usage in the neighborhood. According to the authors, the first-responder intervention model is one of the harm reduction strategies that effectively steer at-risk people away from drug addiction and decrease substance-related damage. The article also discusses the problem of stigma, which often discourages people from getting treatment, and offers methods for minimizing it. Research has shown that an empowerment evaluation technique may effectively support the community-based intervention program’s implementation. Using information, tools, and other resources to help stakeholders determine their objectives and the procedures necessary to accomplish them, this technique encourages them to have a significant role in the decision-making process (Sheperis & Bayles, 2022).
Ensuring that the program is better understood and accepted by the community, this tactic may assist in boosting the program’s chances of success. There are several ways to assess the efficacy of the community-based intervention program. One strategy would be to create a theory of change analysis that evaluates the program’s effectiveness in terms of its capacity to curtail or prevent teenage drug abuse. A logic model that lists all the tasks, intended results, and success indicators may also be a helpful tool for tracking development and effectiveness (Garcia-Poole, Byrne, & Rodrigo, 2019). This may be used with a Gantt chart showing the program’s implementation timetable and the activities that will occur over time. Last, including assessment criteria and result indicators that assess how well the program has affected the target group is critical.
The second study is titled Implementation characteristics that predict successful results in a community-based intervention program for at-risk adolescents and was published in the Journal of Community Practice. by Garca-Poole, C., S. Byrne, & M. J. Rodrigo, “Psychosocial Intervention” (2019). In order to meet the needs of the community impacted by substance addiction, the essay looks at how trauma-informed mental health and drug abuse treatments are crucial. The writers discuss how persons who misuse substances or have been impacted by substance addiction may recover with trauma-informed treatment. They contend that this strategy may also successfully reduce the severe stigma often connected to drug usage problems in society.
Evaluation Plan
It is crucial to create an assessment plan in order to ascertain if a strategy is effective. A Theory of Change debate, causality chain, logic model, Gantt chart, list of measurement items, and result indicators are all possible components of a well-designed assessment plan. A logic model is a tool that may be used to show how resources, inputs, and actions are employed in a program or project to get the intended outputs and results. A Gantt chart is a visual tool that shows a project’s timetable and illustrates the numerous steps that must be taken to achieve the intended result. Measuring tools may be used to gather information about a problem and keep track of how well an intervention or program is working. Conversely, outcome indicators track changes in behavior, attitudes, and results over time.
A theory of change discussion and a logic model may be used to carry out the recommended assessment plan for the first-responder intervention model. In order to identify the solutions that must be implemented and how they should be assessed, the theory of change conversation entails talking about the problems that have been recognized and the intended results in a drafting process. An assessment plan must be provided to evaluate the suggested community strategy’s performance. A Theory of Change (TOC) debate is one method for evaluating the viability of the suggested community plan. Reflecting on the numerous activities and actions included in the plan and how these activities will lead to a desired end is part of this conversation. A TOC discussion may also assist in identifying any holes in the plan that must be filled to be effective (Barkat, 2019).
A logic model is another resource that may be utilized to evaluate the performance of the suggested community approach. This kind of model gives the approach and the precise results that should be attained, a clear visual depiction. A logic model may also assist in identifying any gaps in the strategies and determining what resources would be required to guarantee the strategy’s proper execution. The logic model provides detailed instructions for every action, anticipated results, and predetermined metrics and indicators to gauge the effectiveness of the suggested intervention (Abuse, n.d.).
Another helpful tool for monitoring activity completion and progress is a Gantt chart, which displays the chronology of the activities. In order to evaluate the success of the intervention in lowering the risks and negative effects related to juvenile drug addiction, the evaluation strategy should include assessments of items and outcome indicators. The four “As”—the area of concern, the affected population, the intervention activities, and the suitable or intended result—must be defined as the basis for the criteria utilized to design and assess these items and outcome indicators. The actions included in the plan and their expected completion dates might be shown on a Gantt chart or timetable. A timeframe for when certain results are anticipated to be attained may be provided using this tool. A Gantt chart can also be used to monitor the progress made toward achieving the desired results.
The assessment plan should also contain data-gathering methods, such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, that enable stakeholder input on the strategy’s success. The information acquired via the evaluation plan’s data collection and feedback may be used to gauge how well the interventions work and guide the program’s future actions and initiatives (Abuse, n.d.).
Conclusion
Nowadays, drug misuse among youth is a big problem in communities all around the globe. The windshield evaluation was useful for figuring out the problem and how it will affect the neighborhood. The first-responder approach of intervention, which entails offering early assistance and resources to people at risk and lowering the number of drug-related cases reported to the police, is one suggested remedy. Two study publications from social work journals back up this remedy. This article has addressed the value of the windshield assessment in understanding this problem and has provided an overview of one potential fix that aims to implement a community-based intervention program for at-risk teenagers. Also, I have proposed an assessment strategy that uses various techniques to gauge how well the program reduces or prevents child drug abuse. The effectiveness of the suggested solution will then be assessed using an assessment plan that includes a description of the theory of change, a logic model, a Gantt chart, and other measurement items and result indicators.
References
Barkat, S. (2019). Evaluating the impact of the Academic Enrichment Programme on widening access to selective universities: Application of the Theory of Change framework. British Educational Research Journal, 45(6), 1160–1185.
García-Poole, C., Byrne, S., & Rodrigo, M. J. (2019). Implementation factors that predict positive outcomes in a community-based intervention program for at-risk adolescents. Psychosocial Intervention, 28(2), 57-65.
Lambert, D., Gale, J. A., & Hartley, D. (2008). Substance abuse by youth and young adults in rural America. The Journal of Rural Health, 24(3), 221–228.
O’Connell, M. E., Boat, T., & Warner, K. E. (2009). Committee on preventing mental disorders and substance abuse among children, youth, and young adults: research advances and promising interventions. Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities.
Sahar, M., Riaz, S., & Khan, S. Z. (2020). Substance abuse among educated youth: Challenges and problems families face in Karachi, Pakistan. THE SPARK (A HEC Recognized Journal), 5, 188-208.
Sheperis, C. J., & Bayles, B. (2022). Empowerment evaluation: A practical strategy for promoting stakeholder inclusion and process ownership. Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation, 13(1), 12–21.
Drug Identification and Testing in the Juvenile Justice System. (1998). Consequences of youth substance abuse. Ojjdp.ojp.gov. https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/pubs/drugid/ration-03.html
Abuse, N. I. on D. (n.d.). Get Activity Ideas. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/parents-educators/national-drug-alcohol-facts-week/get-activity-ideas
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