RWJBarnabas Health Institute for Prevention and Recovery (IFPR) has launched Communities that Care (CTC) in the City of Long Branch, beginning a 10-year process customized to the community. CTC is a coalition-based prevention operating system that uses a public health approach to prevent youth problem behaviors. Key stakeholders in the city attended a half-day orientation conducted by IFPR’s trained CTC facilitators, which provided detailed information about how CTC will be implemented and the impact it will have on the Long Branch community.
The City of Long Branch is one of only four communities in New Jersey to partner with IFPR to implement Communities that Care. CTC guides stakeholders in collecting and analyzing locally specific data to identify risk and protective factors in the community.
The CTC initiative is IFPR’s contribution to the RWJBarnabas Health Social Impact and Community Investment Practice, focused on addressing the social, economic and environmental conditions that contribute to poor health outcomes, reduced life expectancy and higher costs.
Among the key leaders who attended the CTC launch are, from left: Jennifer Velez, EVP, Community and Behavioral Health, RWJBarnabas Health; Kendall Murphy, Community Prevention Manager, IFPR; David Stout, President, Brookdale Community College; Connie Greene, VP, IFPR; Michael Salvatore, Superintendent, Long Branch Public Schools; John Pallone, Mayor of Long Branch; Andrea Zapcic, Assistant Director, Prevention, IFPR; Bill Arnold, President, Southern Region, RWJBarnabas Health; Eric Carney, CEO, Monmouth Medical Center; Clair Janal, Community Prevention Specialist, IFPR; Anita Voogt, Long Branch City Council, Brookdale Community College, Long Branch H.E.A.R.S.; Gerry Scharfenberger, Monmouth County Freeholder; and Bill Dangler, Long Branch City Council and President, Long Branch NAACP.