The Prevention Steering Committee model was developed to address one of the major challenges in working with communities to provide service and conduct research -- planning for what will happen to the program at the termination of external funding. Lack of planning for long-term viability and lack of success in achieving sustainability remain barriers to community participation. Project SKPP was designed to learn from previous mistakes in engaging the community and has developed a unique model for achieving engagement which potentially will assure project continuation beyond the current period of funding. 

The model created for the grant period included developing and nurturing effective and engaged local Prevention Steering Committees (PSC) so that these groups could serve to continue to spearhead the project. The PSC’s were developed at the local level where grass roots support was most likely to be garnered. Each of the two SKIPP project elementary schools represented a distinct ethnic area of the local community. Therefore the schools were selected as the geographic boundaries for the PSC. The PSC developed first was in a largely African American community. Although the PSC has been effective in program implementation it has not become the force for sustainability that was expected. The newest PSC, in a largely Latino area of the community has rapidly emerged as a social force for sustainability. Issues of training, community engagement, and developing resources will be described. The session will also highlight the factors that seem to have influenced engagement and leadership development