ABSTRACT
The lead organization was a major funding agency itself in the state and had its own public relations department staffed with media-savvy professionals. When the lead organization learned that one of the outreach staff had been conducting focus groups with her target population on the roots of drug abuse, the executives requested their public relations department to develop a press conference on the focus group results. The information was published in the local newspapers and on local television stations. During annual evaluation interviews, the outreach staff member responsible for the focus groups expressed frustration over the media frenzy. The most common source of stories, certainly on local papers and local radio stations, is the press release. The program Preventing Crime and Corrections (PC&C) was designed to divert adolescents from the criminal justice system. When entire coalitions are coordinating or implementing social programs, the accountability mechanisms dissipate further.
