THE MIAMI COALITION PROCESS

From The Miami Coalition’s earliest days, it was accepted that the development of effective strategies required an understanding of the nature of the problem and an awareness of what factors were specifically contributing to it. It was recognized that while the Coalition might not be able to wipe out drugs in a single stroke, they could chip away at various issues or determinants that were contributing to the drug problem. This insight brought the recognition that there was not a single answer to solving drug abuse, but rather a multitude of actions each of which may contribute in some way to blocking a vector of the drug epidemic.

In its first year, The Coalition leadership appointed A Scientific Advisory Committee to help determine the extent of the local drug problem and ways in which it might be measured and tracked. The committee was instructed to establish a system for tracking drug abuse problems and to establish baseline data against which future progress may be measured. A network was identified for gathering local information on drug-related deaths, medical emergencies, arrests, treatment admissions, and other morbidity and mortality data. This, Drug Epidemiology Network (DEN) has helped prepare semi-annual reports on drug abuse patterns and trends in Miami since The Coalition’s founding. Their work forms the foundations of Miami’s report to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA’s) Community Epidemiology Work Group.

The Scientific Advisory Committee developed three community surveys which focused on the prevalence, attitudes, and perceptions of substance abuse in Dade County. The surveys were administered to middle and high school students, employees from various workplace settings, and the general population. These resources for tracking local substance abuse patterns and trends have provided the tools and indicators to plan strategies and to measure their impact and progress. More importantly, these same systems have provided early alerts to emerging problems which have helped The Miami Coalition remain responsive to the ever changing issues of substance abuse in South Florida.

The Miami Coalition has continuously applied strategic planning as the foundation of its targeted community actions. Collaboration among diverse participants was established as a key operating strategy from the origin of The Miami Coalition and as it continues to bring together those linked by a common concern and empowered through shared goals. Collaboration was identified early on as an important process to introduce key players across different disciplines and to get them working together, often for the first time. Several key issues contribute to The Coalition’s on-going accomplishments as it continues to broaden its base and to be as comprehensive as possible. It recognizes that its major goals must be shared by all the participants. An impressive core group of key community leaders who were at the first planning meetings in 1988 remain active today. Their stability provides strength to The Coalition’s many endeavors.