Implementation challenges of model programs: Staffing adaptations for Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA)

Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA) is a SAMHSA Model Program that utilizes a community organizing approach to change local alcohol policies to reduce youth access to alcohol. Designated as a Model Program in 1999, hundreds of groups are attempting to implement CMCA, but are failing to adequately staff the community organizing position, either by not providing adequate funding for staff or hiring staff without community organizing expertise. New Paradigm Partners (NPP), a collaborative of eight schools in rural northwestern Wisconsin, has both funding and a commitment to hiring an experienced community organizer, but was challenged by work force limitations in its rural area. In an effort to successfully implement CMCA, NPP has adapted the community organizing position and contracted with individuals for components of the organizing in each community, to do the initial outreach and create an action team in each community. Process evaluation data, site visits, and interviews with staff and contractors were used to develop a case study of lessons learned from the NPP experience, with the evaluator working as a participant observer with NPP staff. This paper examines the first two years of CMCA implementation by NPP, identifies the challenges faced, NPP's response and adaptations to those challenges, and the results of those adaptations. Recommendations for future funding and adaptations of CMCA are discussed, based on the NPP experience.