About Headway

Headway is primarily made up of community members from healthcare, human services, and law enforcement agencies. Together, they bring the support of their organizations and create one united effort against substance abuse for our community. By collecting local data, hosting trainings, patrolling the community, and much more, we keep our community safe and take steps toward changing the community’s relationship with illicit substances.

By bringing together different sectors of Newaygo County, we can effectively develop a comprehensive solution to our unique substance abuse problems. The goal is to achieve sustainable population-level reductions in substance abuse rates. To accomplish this, we strive to bring the entire community together to achieve measurable results. By mobilizing the community, we aim to be the catalyst for change in our community.

Headway Sectors

• Schools
• Businesses
• Parents
• Media
• Youth- serving organizations
• Law enforcement
• Religious organizations
• Civic/Volunteer Groups
• Healthcare Professionals
• Governmental agencies
• Others involved in ATOD
• Youth

Our Goals

Goal 1:

• Reduce the percentage of high school students reporting binge drinking in the past month by 25% (from 14.0% to 11.0%).
• Reduce the percentage of high school students reporting having ever been drunk by 20% (from 30.8% to 24.0%) by 2020.

Goal 2:

• Reduce the percent of middle and high school students who report recent misuse of a prescription painkiller by 33% by 2020 (from 7.4% to 5.0% for HS and from 4.9% to 3.25% for MS).
• Reduce the percent of 11th grade students who report recent misuse of a prescription stimulant by 33% by 2020 (from 6.8% to 4.6%).

Goal 3:

• Reduce the percent of 7th and 9th grade students who report recent use of smokeless tobacco by 33% by 2020 (from 3.1% to 2.0% for 7th and from 5.6% to 3.7% for 9th).

Goal 4:

• Strengthen the capacity of Headway to sustain substance abuse prevention and recovery in Newaygo County.