Our mission: Our mission is to promote healthy youth development and to reduce the incidence of problem adolescent behaviors such as substance abuse, suicide, violence, delinquency and school drop-out, in Dickinson and Iron Counties. We will pursue & achieve this by: - Building a strong family foundation - Connecting families to school - Establishing healthy beliefs and clear standards for acceptable behavior - Supporting collaboration among community resources Our vision: Dickinson and Iron Counties are a nurturing environment that encourages youth to follow their passions and build them up so they can thrive and contribute to the future of the community. The Communities That Care model focuses on promoting positive youth development and preventing problem behaviors by assessing predictors both of problem behaviors and of positive youth outcomes. Risk and protective factors have been identified in research in many fields, including for problem adolescent behaviors. We identified the following risk factors as our priorities for immediate action, and have set the following goals: Depressive Symptoms: Young people who are depressed are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and are more likely to use drugs. Survey research and other studies have shown a link between depression and youth problem behaviors. Low Perceived Risk of Harm from Drug Use: Young people who do not perceive drug use to be risky are far more likely to engage in drug use.