The WCPC is the Walton County Prevention Coalition, an organization dedicated to giving members of the Walton County community support and resources necessary for helping children make good decisions when it comes to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. The WCPC’s mission is prevention through communication and information.
About the WCPC
Established in 2003, the Walton County Prevention Coalition’s mission has been to ensure the health and safety of the community’s youth. The WCPC’s motto is “Working together as one to improve a community for all.”
The WCPC is comprised of concerned Walton County citizens who work with parents, local leaders, and youth to provide prevention services to youth and families and improve and to strengthen the community. Specifically, currently, coalition partners are:
• 15 youth members
• 8 parent members
• 6 school representative members
• 6 government agency members
• 5 other agencies reducing substances members
• 2 business community members
• 6 youth-serving agency members
• 3 civic / volunteer members
• 8 law enforcement members
• 2 media representative members
• 4 healthcare professional members
• 4 religious community members
More specific details about team members and sector representatives are on the WCPC About Us webpage. Team members’ collective professional expertise and experience comes from areas including counseling, education, law enforcement, public service, and more.
The Mission of the WCPC
The WCPC’s mission is “to reduce substance abuse for youth and families by developing an anti-drug coalition, which will be a cross-section collaboration of community entities. The coalition is tasked to strengthen efforts among public and private agencies so as to address environmental factors by identifying and maximizing resources and public awareness to reduce substance abuse among youth and families.”
Thus, the WCPC focuses the majority of its outreach on educating parents, adults, and teachers on how to speak to youth and on the importance and value of communicating with youth on the dangers of:
• Underage drinking
• Underage drug use
• Underage smoking
Information, support, and resources pertain to the short and long-term effects of such behaviors as well as the life-long damages engaging in these behaviors is proven to result in. The coalition also educates parents and families on how influential they are in the lives of youth and children and how they can use that influence to reduce and to prevent substance abuse among young people.
WCPC Strategies & Outreach
In the WCPC’s six-month review conducted between February and July 2016, the coalition reportedly:
• Provided services to 2,258 adults
• Provided services to 1,789 youth
Additionally, the Walton County Prevention Coalition:
• Provided information through:
o 4 community events
o 4 speaking engagements
o 159 Facebook posts reaching 36,252 people
• Enhanced skills through:
o 2 youth educational sessions
o 3 community educational sessions
o 3 business educational sessions
• Provided support through:
o 1 alcohol and drug free events for youth
o 4 recreational programs
o 32 community involvement activities
• Enhanced access / reduced barriers with 10 compliance checks
• Changed physical design through:
o 90 environmental scans
o 15 business sight surveys
• Modified / changed policies by passing 10 workplace policies
The coalition seeks community support in the form of volunteers, donations, and taking the abstinence pledge to stay away from smoking, drugs, and alcohol.
The Walton County Prevention Coalition is dedicated to its mission, message, and outreach. The coalition aims to strengthen the decisions made by members of the Walton community “one youth at a time.” To learn more about the WCPC or how you can help the organization grow in size and strength, visit the WCPC website and become a force for positive change in Walton County.