The Albuquerque Partnership is a community-based organization that works with neighborhood organizations and individuals for community improvement. We do this by building relationships among individuals, organizations, government, other agencies, and neighborhood groups.

We help by providing training, giving technical assistance, and sharing resources with our communities. We encourage all residents, especially youth, to get involved with their communities.

Our focus is within the boundaries of Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque. Presently, The Partnership is working with 17 neighborhood associations from the Trumbull/La Mesa area to the Westside, with Alamosa and West Mesa associations. In the South Valley, we are an active member of the South Valley Coalition of Neighborhood Associations. Our basic question always is: “How can we improve our families and neighborhoods through education, safety, economic development, better jobs, and at the same time, reduce negative behaviors such as crime, violence, and drug abuse?”

The Partnership also works with all our community members to improve our educational system. To this end, The Partnership helps communities get involved in their local schools, create after-school enrichment programs, and make system-wide changes through legislative initiatives and active participation in schools.

The primary purpose of the Albuquerque Partnership is to create a healthy community by protecting young people from risk-taking behaviors and promoting their healthy development. The Partnership provides youth opportunities for empowerment by initiating training and activities that develop young people's skills and by including them in the planning and implementation of prevention activities. It establishes prevention strategies in ten neighborhoods and targets all forms of drug abuse including the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalants. Neighborhood groups and individuals are involved in the planning and implementation of prevention activities specific to each area needs. Educational commitment is emphasized through the development of an educational reform infrastructure which address issues related to retention, dropout and absenteeism, school safety, student learning and parent participation.

The Partnership serves Bernalillo County and is comprised of multiple Agencies, individuals, organizations and neighborhood groups. It provides a comprehensive system of prevention services that is Community driven, Strategically focused, research based and culturally relevant. The Partnership has provided services to Bernalillo County for thirteen years.

As a result of the Partnership efforts, a cadre of trained, capable Prevention advocates has been created in each Neighborhood. Evaluation and Assessment has lead to the development of realistic, multiple, and measurable long-term goals. Collaboration has supported the process of resource identification, made linkages between systems, coordinated implementation of activities, and created high level of commitment to and participation in prevention efforts of systems at all levels. The activities have contributed to the health, safety, and economic well being of people, reduced incidence of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and increased parent and community involvement in the education improvement of young people. The Partnership has been instrumental In the implementation of policy change that reduces crime and restricts access to alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs at the State, City, and Local level.

The Partnership's ability to maximize services and resources, minimize duplication of effort among groups, develop widespread public support for issues and strategies, and enhance protective factors and reduce risk factors, qualifies it as an exemplary program.

In November, 1990 The Albuquerque Partnership was formed and seventeen (17) agencies committed to the implementation of a five year comprehensive plan in which the community would collaboratively develop strategies to prevent substance abuse in the Greater Albuquerque Metropolitan area. In July 1991 the City of Albuquerque, named lead agency in the grant, was funded for multi-year funding (5 years) with a reapplication process.

The Albuquerque Partnership proposed to devote the first nine months to strengthening the Partnership by providing training, workshops, and education on developing inter-organizational collaboration. It committed to providing outreach services in an attempt to involve other organizations addressing related high-risk behaviors. A community-wide needs assessment and a drug and alcohol incidence and prevalence study was conducted to determine the specifics of the five year comprehensive plan. A database illustrating the magnitude of problems and issues affecting the well-being of individuals began to be formed as a means of assessing the needs of the community and as a means of targeting prevention efforts.

A clear need for collaboration of services and resources, the reduction of duplication of services and a need to focus prevention efforts in neighborhoods were identified. The major focus of APSAP was directed toward assisting local community based groups in the Albuquerque Metropolitan area develop strategies based on particular needs and resources to prevent substance abuse, provide technical assistance, training, resources, and educational materials for the implementation of prevention programs.