Members

Membership in the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition is voluntary and is open to all Portsmouth adult residents, professional staff representatives who work in a related field and are involved in providing services to Portsmouth residents, as well as school department representatives and students. Occasionally, additional priority meetings are held as well as sub-committees and some evening events on a few occasions. Parents are a key and crucial part of the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition. If you would like to become a coalition member, help us in our work as a volunteer, or just share ideas, please email us at portsmouth@riprevention.org.

The Coalition has undertaken three Community Needs Assessments over the past several years that look in depth at the substance abuse issues that affect our youth in the schools and our community as a whole. (The latest assessment was conducted in the 2015-16 school year.) Those results are tabulated and accessed by the Coalition and the town to determine where to direct programs and policies as well as other factors to enact effective prevention strategies that can show measurable reduction in use and increased perception of risk in our student population.

Throughout the year the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition provides reports to the Town Council and works closely with the Portsmouth Schools, Portsmouth Police Department, Wellness Week/Chris Herren Project, Student Assistance Counselors, faith community, business community, social services, students and parents, as well as the State of Rhode Island and federal government agencies.