Introduction

The deep concern many Americans feel about substance abuse is a powerful catalyst for community action.  Coalitions channel that concern into programs that require active citizen participation, connecting people to each other and to their communities.   These efforts generate enormous human energy, even against seemingly intractable problems like substance abuse.  This sense of empowerment is critically important in overcoming the hopelessness and apathy that often prevent communities from taking action.

As the crack cocaine epidemic devastated cities across America more than a decade ago, citizens came together from all walks of life to create community strategies to combat substance abuse. Since then, anti-drug coalitions have played a pivotal role in mobilizing community support for more effective responses to local alcohol and other drug problems.  As the coalition movement has matured, various evaluations of community coalition impact have found, not surprisingly, a wide range of results.  Too often in the past, funding was given to coalitions without information on how they should form and develop. Some coalitions prospered while others disappeared.  Some have produced measurable change in community anti-drug attitudes and initiatives while others appear not to have had much effect. It is increasingly important to be able to identify the factors that contribute to successful outcomes as well as factors that indicate probable failure.  As competition for limited resources grows, the future of anti-drug coalitions will depend upon their ability to demonstrate that they make a difference in their communities.

Formal evaluation data are often not available, since coalitions are usually hard-pressed for funds, and evaluations are expensive.  The few national evaluations that have been done do not clearly answer the core issue: Do anti-drug coalitions “work?”  A central difficulty in interpreting these evaluations is deciding which measures to use in judging effectiveness. Many coalitions began with the express purpose of preventing alcohol and other drug use, particularly among young people, as well as reducing substance abuse in their communities.  By these measures alone, few coalitions in the Knight Cities can demonstrate success. However, many coalitions can show other kinds of effects which have improved various aspects of community life, ranging from elimination of billboards that advertise alcoholic beverages to cleaning up neighborhood street drug markets.