STRATEGY

In the midst of the shocking reality of the greatest ongoing public health crisis ever – drug overdose deaths - Drug Free Duval has a passion for something radical: freedom FROM substance abuse and freedom FOR opportunity is absolutely attainable. For all.

It doesn’t just happen though. It takes looking really honestly into the problem from every angle. It takes coordinating questions and seeking answers from every sector. It takes engaging in a process of change using measurements to assess the effectiveness every step of the way. It takes being brave enough to change courses if the plan has flaws or isn’t working.

It takes strategy.

Drug Free Duval uses a process called the Strategic Prevention Framework. It works by reaching broadly and deeply in an assessment process using qualitative and quantitative data, listening to residents and community members share their own experiences and mapping it all out. 

After we understand and quantify the issue, we seek to understand the community’s capacity and readiness for change. Then we plan. We plan how and who and where and when. We work hard to identify any resources that can be utilized and to figure out how to get the resources we’re missing. Together, we implement a wide swath of environmental strategies so the very community and culture becomes new and different and, well, healthy.

It's like the frog. The frog who’s swimming around in a dirty pond, and is pretty sick. It’s a great thing if someone comes along and helps the frog get healthy, but if they take him back to the pond and it’s just like it was before…well, it’s not long before the frog is sick again. Drug Free Duval wakes up every day seeking to find ways to help the pond become a place where all the frogs can thrive.