What is Better Brodhead?
Better Brodhead is a community coalition working in Green County to prevent and reduce alcohol, and other drug use among youth and foster positive relationships for a safe, healthy, and inclusive community.
What does Better Brodhead do?
We are a recognized leader in Green County in youth substance use prevention. Through strong partnerships with the school district, local and county law enforcement, health agencies, the Brodhead Chamber of Commerce and the faith community, we have sponsored many events, campaigns, trainings and school programs.
Better Brodhead has brought substance use issues to the forefront and assisted the school district in developing a multi-disciplinary leadership task force to address youth mental health and substance use issues.
Better Brodhead has also provided training to law enforcement on alcohol policy which has led to law enforcement conducting compliance checks. Better Brodhead has developed a youth 2 youth group at the local high school to provide peer to peer education on substance use prevention.
Local problems require local solutions
Better Brodhead follows the Strategic Prevention Framework to identify issues, build the capacity to address those issues, plan and implement prevention activities with community partners and evaluate the impact our work has had.
The Strengthening Families Program is a nationally and internationally recognized parenting and family strengthening program for all families. This evidence-based program has been found to significantly improve parenting skills and family relationships, and improves social competencies and school performance in children.
This program focuses on adolescents ages 10 to 14 and their caregivers. The parent, youth, and family skills-building curriculum is delivered in sessions and that offers learning sessions for parents and youth. The program uses realistic videos, role-playing, discussions, learning games, and family projects to enhance parenting skills, build life skills in youth, and strengthen family bonds and communication.
Better Brodhead involves at least 12 sectors of the community in the planning and implementation of the strategic plan. Involving a diverse group of stakeholders to address common problems increases ownership of the solutions and that collective impact has a greater influence for positive change to occur.
Our theory of change is that multiple strategies implemented across multiple environments over time will decrease youth substance use. Strategies that are proven to affect change include:
- Provide Information: presentations, workshops, brochures, meetings, billboards, web-based communication.
- Enhance Skills: Workshops and seminars designed to increase the skills of participants
- Provide Support: creating opportunities to support people to participate. Mentoring, referrals, support groups, clubs.
- Enhance Access/Reduce Barriers: Childcare, transportation, language sensitivity, addressing special needs.
- Change consequences/Incentives/disincentives: Recognition for deserved behavior, rewards, citations, fines, loss of privileges.
- Physical Design: signage, lighting, outlet density, location of dropbox.
- Modifying/Changing policies: formal written procedural change to bylaws, workplace initiatives, public policy, law enforcement procedures and practices, systems change within agencies.
Does Better Brodhead face any challenges?
One challenge that Better Brodhead has faced are the limitations of human resources in a rural community. Better Brodhead has utilized recruitment campaigns and the Green county volunteer network to increase knowledge of the coalition and coalition involvement in activities.
How does the COMMUNITY support Better Brodhead’s work?
Our board is a working board made up of community members from many sectors that drive the coalition forward.
Our partnerships with various community agencies have provided us with many opportunities including; venues, food donations, and free advertising. Through collaboration with many agencies we are able have a collective impact on shared goals.
Better Brodhead is committed to the wellbeing of our youth by engaging our community to help us achieve our goals.
