Sustainability of Community Coalitions: An Evaluation of Communities That Care

Investigating relationships between community coalition processes during initial 3-year state seed funding and markers of sustainability post-funding found members' knowledge of prevention, coalition internal functioning, and fidelity to the CTC model during early coalition functioning predictive of later sustained coalition board activity.

Abstract

The relationships between community coalition processes during initial 3-year state seed funding and markers of sustainability post-funding were investigated in 20 Communities That Care (CTC) sites in Pennsylvania. Coalition processes were assessed using interviews with coalition members, ratings from the research team and ratings from state technical consultants. We found members' knowledge of prevention, coalition internal functioning, and fidelity to the CTC model during early coalition functioning predictive of later sustained coalition board activity. Findings suggest domains of early coalition functioning that may be important for understanding and promoting sustainability.