Genesee County Community Mental Health Substance Abuse Coordinating Agency
The Genesee Alcohol & Addiction Prevention (GAAP) Coalition
Operational Guidelines
GUIDELINE 1- Name
The coalition’s name is the Genesee Alcohol & Addiction Prevention (GAAP) Coalition
GUIDELINE 2- Vision & Mission
Vision: An empowered community working together to reduce substance abuse for the health and
safety of its residents.
Mission: Preventing substance abuse and associated consequences in Genesee County among youth and
adults through innovative strategies and community partnerships.
GUIDELINE 3- Purpose
The purpose of GAAP is to:
 create and sustain a community prevention system within Genesee County that incorporates
the Strategic Prevention Framework five (5) step process (i.e. needs assessment, capacity,
strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation).
 provide leadership and collaborate efforts in substance use disorder prevention in order to
impact the primary substance abuse problem(s) at the community level.
 educate its members on current prevention planning concerns and bring awareness of the
coalition and its efforts to the community at large in hope of changing knowledge, attitudes, and
behaviors.
GUIDELINE 4- Organizational Structure
GAAP is convened by Genesee County Community Mental Health Substance Abuse Coordinating Agency.
It is a subcommittee to the Genesee County Community Collaborative. It has two membership
meetings- the Core Members Meeting and General Membership Meetings. GAAP has three standing
workgroups: the Community Epidemiology Workgroup (CEW), the Coalition Development, Structure &
Sustainability Workgroup, and the Current Prevention Planning Workgroup.
GUIDELINE 5- Workgroup Responsibilities
Community Epidemiology Workgroup (CEW): This workgroup is responsible for the collection, oversight
and analysis of data. This workgroup will report findings to the GAAP coalition for consideration in its
prevention planning.
Coalition Development, Structure & Sustainability Workgroup: This workgroup is responsible for the
continuous development of the coalition including oversight to recruit new members. It is responsible
for sustaining the coalition structure and ensuring that the coalition is meeting its purpose. It will work
to mobilize and increase capacity for prevention work in the community. It will make recommendations
to the GAAP coalition for consideration in its prevention planning.
Current Prevention Planning Workgroup: This workgroup is responsible for developing strategies to
address local trends, problem areas, emerging issues, etc. A separate workgroup will be developed for
each substance abuse prevention priority concern. Current prevention planning priorities to be
GAAP Guidelines 8-10-2010
addressed are Alcohol-Related Traffic Crash Deaths, Underage Drinking, and Youth and Adult
Prescription Drug Use. Each workgroup will report back to the GAAP coalition.
GUIDELINE 6- Meetings
The coalition’s Core Members Meeting shall be held monthly on the 2nd Tuesday from 8:30am-10:00am
at CMH unless otherwise determined. The coalition’s General Membership Meeting (where all
community members are invited) shall be held 4 times per year on the 4th Thursday of the month in
January, April, July, and October from 6:30pm-8:00pm at a community based location. The coalition’s
workgroups shall establish their own meeting schedule as needed.
GUIDELINE 7- Membership/Coalition Involvement Agreement
The coalition membership shall include, but is not limited to, representation from the following 12
sectors:
1. Youth (under age 18)
2. Parents
3. Business
4. Media
5. Schools
6. Youth-serving Organizations
7. Law Enforcement
8. Religious/Fraternal Organizations
9. Civic/Volunteer Groups
10. Healthcare Professionals
11. State/Local/Tribal Government agencies with expertise in substance abuse
12. Other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse
Core Members are those individuals and organizations who represent a specific sector. Core members
have signed a CIA and are listed on the GAAP Coalition member list. Organizations may have more than
one representative to the coalition. Sectors may have more than one representative.
Each individual sector member and/or agency needs to complete and sign a Coalition Involvement
Agreement (CIA). The CIA is an agreement between the coalition and the sector member for active
participation in the coalition’s work. It will be updated and resigned on a yearly basis. The CIA will be
completed by the sector member and/or agency upon joining the coalition and every September
thereafter. The CIA may be amended at any time by mutual agreement between the sector
member/agency and the coalition.
GUIDELINE 8- Member Responsibilities
The GAAP Coalition is an action coalition, with members expected to attend and participate in coalition
meetings, workgroups and/or activities according to their interests and abilities.
Each member will decide its own participation level when completing the CIA. Possible participation
may include:
 Attend meetings
 Participate in workgroup(s)
 Attend coalition sponsored trainings, seminars, and community-wide events
GAAP Guidelines 8-10-2010










Participate in assessing and analyzing root causes of substance abuse problems in the
community
Participate in ongoing Logic Model development and strategic planning processes
Participate in ongoing refinement of the coalition vision, mission, objectives, goals, and activities
Ensure clear communication between the sector member’s organization and the coalition
Participate in the implementation of multiple strategies across multiple sectors to achieve
community change
Work towards creating population-level change as evidenced by the four core measures; past
thirty day use, age of onset of drug use, perception of risk or harm, and perception of
disapproval of use by parents
Participate in sustaining the coalition’s vitality, involvement, and energy in the community
Support the overarching principles of cultural competence and ensure its incorporation into the
coalition’s comprehensive approach
Agree to and follow coalition operational guidelines
Other as set by the individual member/agency
GUIDELINE 9- Code of Ethics
All members of the coalition shall act in the best interest of the coalition by supporting its vision and
mission. A member will avoid situations and activities where personal, professional, or financial
interests might be served which may impair his or her decisions or actions concerning coalition matters.
All members will abide by the confidentiality section in the Coalition Involvement Agreement.
GUIDELINE 10- Conducting Business, Shared Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution
Decisions will be made with the input of coalition members via meeting discussion, electronic
communication or other appropriate methods. Certain members and/or other key stakeholders may be
solicited for input as it is relevant to the decision being made. Workgroups will make decisions from
input of its members and give recommendations to the coalition for final approval.
The coalition values and encourages the input and interjection of new ideas and perspectives. The
coalition also recognizes that in collaborative decision-making, areas of conflict and disagreement may
arise. Therefore, the coalition shall address areas of conflict and disagreement by the following:
Exploring impasses:
1. Identifying the areas of agreement.
2. Clarifying the points of disagreement.
a) Exploring the facts: What is the data and what does it tell us?
b) Exploring methods: How should we do what we need to do?
c) Reviewing goals: What is our objective?
d) Reviewing values: Why do we think it must be done a in a particular way- what does the
coalition believe?
3. Continue to address the points of disagreement.
4. Where areas of conflict and disagreement cannot be resolved or impede the process within the
coalition, the assistance of a facilitator or mediator shall be obtained.
GAAP Guidelines 8-10-2010
GUIDELINE 11- Cultural Competence
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines cultural competence as a “set of behaviors,
attitudes and policies that come together in a system, agency or program or among individuals, enabling
them to function effectively in diverse cultural interactions and similarities within, among and between
groups.”
When applicable, GAAP shall consider cultural competence in the following:
 Meetings
 Document development, including policy statements
 Information dissemination
 Training
 Technical assistance
 Data collection
GUIDELINE 12- Review of Operational Guidelines
The GAAP Operational Guidelines shall be reviewed and amended, if necessary, on a yearly basis. Each
August, the guidelines will be reviewed by the Coalition Development, Structure & Sustainability
Workgroup. Any recommended changes will be discussed at the September GAAP Core Member
Coalition meeting for final approval prior to implementation in October for the beginning of the new
fiscal year.
GAAP Guidelines 8-10-2010