A novel community mobilization framework to scale youth opioid prevention education in Texas

The youth opioid crisis is a significant problem in the United States. This article presents a novel framework, the County Zone Assignment and Action Planning (CZAAP), designed to operationalize processes to engage and mobilize communities in a statewide opioid prevention initiative targeting Texas' K-12 students. The Hub and Spoke model (HSM) guided project operations, with the academic institution serving as the hub and eight sites as spokes, staffed by teams of Community Health Organizers and Community Health Workers, known as Area Representatives. The CZAAP framework provided implementation processes for HSM.

Informed by the community engagement literature, the CZAAP framework was developed as a blueprint detailing processes and procedures for executing a large, multi-component initiative.

CZAAP consisted of two strategies: 1) a 3-step process, in which the area representatives assessed, grouped, and prioritized their multiple-county area into four zones based on each team member's level of prior involvement in the county, and 2) the development of a multistep community-engaged action plan. Area representative teams received CZAAP methodology training and follow-up coaching.

CZAAP offers a practical, easy-to-implement resource for Area Representatives to co-create an action plan with community input. Future testing of CZAAP is planned.