Environmental Strategies for Prevention
A Guide To Helping the Prevention Professional Work Effectively in the Community

Supplements

Convening A Local Policy Panel

Policy panels are useful for generating public awareness of substance abuse problems among public officials and citizens. They can also encourage coordinated strategic planning. The following steps can help lead to a successful local policy panel:

  1. Select key leaders in the community to serve on the panel. Ensure that they represent expertise as well as awareness of the community.
  2. Outline the mission of your panel, so the members will know what is expected of them.
  3. Hold a public hearing as part of the process of preparing final recommendations. Select informed and credible witnesses representing varying points of view.
  4. Prepare a report to support the panel's recommendations. Include some resources and examples that readers can use to implement the recommendations in their communities.
  5. Each of the above steps can be used to attract media attention to the issue. They are also opportunities to reinforce existing relationships and recruit new allies. Your media strategy might include editorial board meetings and talk radio interviews.
  6. Once the report has been released, be alert for opportunities to promote the findings. The panel chair and members can be instrumental in making presentations to legislative committee hearings, conferences, etc. . . .

Reprinted from Join Together Criminal Justice Public Policy Panel, "Fixing a Failing System, National Policy Recommendations: How the Criminal Justice System Should Work with Communities to Reduce Substance Abuse. Feb. 1996, downloaded from http://www.jointogether.org/sa/files/pdf/fail_system.pdf on December 9, 2004.

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