County-funded prevention programs report early reductions in youth substance use; leaders seek mentor recruits

County-supported youth-prevention providers described early program activity and initial outcome data Tuesday while asking the Board of Supervisors to continue support for mentor recruitment and program evaluation.

Representatives from Raising Shasta and Youth Options Shasta said their contracted services — youth centers, peer court, aggression-replacement training and parent discussion groups — have engaged hundreds of local young people since the contract began in June 2026. "Our PAL program has had 606 visits by youth and 83 students," a Raising Shasta representative said, and the presenters described thousands of teen-center visits across Redding and Anderson.

Youth Options presented early outcome measures for a small completed sample: "The 30-day substance use decreased from 75 percent to 25 percent," the presenter said, describing a 67 percent relative reduction in a small group of completers. Presenters cautioned the sample was early and small, and that the organizations are improving data collection and switching to a new tracking system to capture participation duration and matched pre/post measures.

Board members pressed for clarity about incremental gains, funding drawdown and evaluation plans. Supervisors were told Youth Options received an advance of $200,000 and has billed about $130,000 of that sum so far; the organizations said billing and invoicing processes are being refined and that they have not yet fully accessed the program’s budget. Presenters said they plan a broader community survey and a February summit to expand mentor recruitment and to refine outcome metrics.

Members of the public — including program alumni, parents and volunteers — gave emotional testimony in support of the programs, describing peer-court and family-group benefits and urging continued investment. County staff said the programs will return with more detailed matched-outcome data at the next semiannual update.

The presentations were informational; the board did not take action to change funding at the meeting but asked staff and providers to return with clearer evaluation data and implementation timelines.