What we do?
Communities That Care is an evidence-based initiative to improve the healthy development of young people in schools and communities. The Communities That Care model uses community capacity building process to promote young people’s mental wellbeing and reduce harmful substance use and antisocial behaviour.
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How It Works
The Communities That Care process uses an early intervention and prevention framework to guide schools and communities towards understanding their local needs, identifying and setting priorities, and implementing effective evidence-based strategies to address those needs.
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Getting Started
You can increase the caring environment in your school or community by becoming a champion for Communities That Care. Find out how you start by enrolling in our Phase 1.1 online training or contact us
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Research & Evidence
Large trials in Australia and the US have demonstrated the Communities That Care process to be effective in creating thriving school environments and reducing alcohol use, substance use, antisocial behaviour and improving wellbeing and academic performance for children and young people.
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Training & Resources
Schools and communities receive training and technical assistance to guide them through each of the five phases of the Communities That Care process.
Communities That Care in schools
The Communities That Care process is available to schools. In Victoria this is funded through the Department of Education’s Mental Health Menu.
The early phases build your skills to encourage staff wellbeing and caring teams to reduce student mental health issues. The process builds the capacity of school staff to form partnerships that bring together stakeholders to implement evidence-based mental health promotion approaches in the school and local community.
The program is listed in Victoria on the School’s Mental Health Menu as a Tier 1 intervention: Positive Mental Health Promotion. It has been awarded a Level 4 strength of evidence rating on the menu (the highest level available) due tp the robust evidence for effectiveness established from quality research.
