Eaton County has a history of successful coalitions. Since its inception, the Eaton County Human Services Collaborative (ECHSC) has worked effectively to coordinate resources, address unmet needs within the county, and provide creative problem solving to issues relevant to the needs of the community. The ECHSC is very supportive of the activities of the Eaton County Substance Abuse Advisory Group (ECSAAG) and has made ECSAAG a formal work group of the collaborative, requesting reports from the Advisory Group each month. The ECHSC has demonstrated its commitment to supporting substance abuse services prevention and treatment programs that produce effective outcomes.
Additionally, the Eaton Substance Abuse Program (ESAP) Advisory Board functioned for the past five years in an advisory capacity to address substance abuse prevention and treatment needs of Eaton County residents. So as to not duplicate efforts, the ESAP Advisory Board agreed to work within the newly formed ECSAAG and form a subcommittee to more fully explore substance abuse treatment needs and report back to the larger group. The Eaton County Tobacco Coalition also agreed to work as a sub-committee on tobacco issues within the newly formed Eaton County Substance Abuse Advisory Group and those members have continued to address tobacco issues within the county.
While our Eaton County Substance Abuse Advisory Group has successfully convened a wide variety of stakeholders from around the county, we need more diverse representation. Having the communities and school districts not yet represented-Eaton Rapids, Waverly, Olivet, and Bellevue could strengthen our Advisory Group. Three of these four school districts do not traditionally work with Eaton Intermediate School District. Developing more involved relationships with these districts will be necessary to get stakeholders to the table.
In addition, ECSAAG would benefit from having more representation from community sectors, such as hospitals, the faith community, businesses, civic organizations, voluntary agencies from the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Association.
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