Grantees Across the Nation
More than 769 Drug Free Communities grantees are currently operating around the Nation.
A map on the DFC Web site shows locations and status of 2008 grantees.
More than 500 new grantees, mentors, trainers, and prevention professionals attended the first 2009 training for the Drug Free Communities Support (DFC) program.
Frances M. Harding, Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, welcomed new grantees to the 3-day training, which took place in Washington, DC, January 5 to 7. Each coalition was asked to bring two people to the training.
For the mentoring sessions, sessions were planned “one on one” for reviewing and critiquing each new coalition’s Logic Model, Strategic Plan, and the actual proposal written in response to the 2008 request for applications.
Coalitions that succeeded in winning a grant in 2008 followed specific guidelines, which are listed online on the Drug Free Communities Web site.
Those coalition guidelines include the following:
A new Drug Free Communities (DFC) grantee reviews the information on “Coalition Essentials” in her training binder. The training was held in Washington, DC, on January 5.
- Pursue as part of your coalition’s principal mission the goal of reducing substance abuse among youth.
- Target multiple drugs.
- Work together on substance abuse prevention for a period of at least 6 months prior to sending in your grant application.
- Demonstrate that your coalition has participation from volunteer leaders in the community.
- Include all age groups and special interests from your region including:
- youth (18 or under)
- parents
- business community
- media
- schools
- youth-serving organizations
- law enforcement agencies
- religious or fraternal organizations
- civic and volunteer groups
- health care professionals
- State, local, or tribal governmental agencies with expertise in the field of substance abuse
- Serve a geographic area that is not served by another Drug Free Community coalition.
- Address substance abuse prevention among youth in the community in a comprehensive and long-term fashion.
By fulfilling the requirements above, a coalition will be supporting the two main goals of the Drug Free Communities program:
- To reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, among adults
- To establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, private nonprofit agencies, and Federal, state, local, and tribal governments in prevention efforts.
For more information, visit the Drug Free Communities Web site. To read more about SAMHSA’s prevention efforts, visit the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.