Grants Dashboard

In 2015, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams initiated a study to select a community within Salt Lake County that would benefit the most from a place-based initiative. Kearns Township was selected and The Future We Choose in Kearns, a collective impact placed-based initiative, was created. As part of this effort, the Evidence2Success (E2S) Kearns Community Coalition was formed in March 2016, bringing together key leaders, community members, and systems partners to to create community change for youth and families. Using Utah’s Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey, the Coalition identified alcohol and tobacco, particularly e-cigarettes, as priority substances to address. Usage of alcohol and e-cigarettes is higher for youth in Kearns than the average usage for youth throughout Utah. Kearns elementary and junior high lifetime alcohol consumption rates were more than double the state average in 2015 and e-cigarette use is trending upwards at alarming rates. It is the high substance use rates, combined with additional risk factors, that demonstrate the need for additional resources such as this Drug Free Communities Support grant to both reduce and prevent youth alcohol and e-cigarette use in Kearns. While Kearns youth are both at higher risk and have higher use rates for alcohol and e-cigarette use than others throughout Utah, Kearns boasts many strengths that uniquely prepare the community to experience significant impact with the resources offered through the Drug Free Communities Support grant. Strengths include the fact that in Kearns, opportunities for prosocial behavior is high, rewards for prosocial involvement is high, parental attitude favorable to drug use is low, and interaction with antisocial peers is trending down. Building off of these strengths and the work that the Coalition has already engaged in, this grant will further their efforts and help E2S achieve the goals of 1) increasing community collaboration, and 2) reducing youth substance abuse in Kearns.

The Jefferson County Drug-Free Communities that Care Coalition's (DFCTC) proposal is supported by a cross-agency collaboration made up of policy makers, elected officials, and community representatives called the Children and Youth Leadership Commission (CYLC). The CYLC, and its subcommittees were established in 2004 in order to address the immediate and long-term social service needs of children and families living in Jefferson County. The coalition, which is part of the Prevention Subcommittee, was created to identify, address, educate, prevent and reduce youth substance use. The coalition's goal of implementing an action plan to reduce youth substance use, aligns perfectly with the previous and current work of the CYLC. The DFCTC proposal will augment the work the Prevention Subcommittee has been doing to address youth substance abuse. The DFCTC proposes to actively invite and build member capacity of the coalition; create a strategic plan for substance use prevention, which aligns and coordinates with other state and local efforts; educate partners, parents and school personnel on how to implement evidence-based substance use prevention strategies; wage a county-wide awareness campaign to increase the awareness of the risks associated with substance use (school and classroom programs, after-school and prosocial activities; community events); coordinate prevention, intervention and treatment systems - an any-door systemic support plan; conduct outreach to Jefferson County's most vulnerable populations; and provide trainings across the county to increase the members' and the community's knowledge of the problems associated with youth marijuana use, youth alcohol use and youth misuse and abuse of prescription drugs; all in an effort to reduce youth substance use in Jefferson County. In addition, Jefferson County needs a centralized, professional, well-informed and coordinated communication and data collection system that all partners can input and use to collect vital information on youth substance use and abuse. The DFCTC plans to be the hub where parents and the community can come for help, information and awareness. The goals in the DFCTC proposal align with the needs of Jefferson County. In Jefferson County the rate of Emergency Department admissions for alcohol poisoning among 15-19 year olds per 100,000 was approximately 600 in 2015, representing the single greatest reason for substance-related ED poisoning visits for this age group. More than 30 percent of all Jefferson County youth in substance abuse treatment identify alcohol as their primary or secondary substance of abuse. And in 2013 and 2014, Colorado youth ranked highest in the nation for past month marijuana use, up from the fourth highest in 2011/2012. In the two year average since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, youth self-reported past month marijuana use increased 20 percent compared to the two year average prior to legalization. Of major concern is that only 48 percent of high school students surveyed see marijuana as risky compared to 54 percent of those surveyed two years earlier. Marijuana-related school incidents involving law enforcement were notably higher in the DFCTC target communities of Edgewater and Wheat Ridge compared to the two year averages prior to legalization (2011/2012). And incidents involving all ""dangerous drugs"" was significantly higher among students in Lakewood compared to other school communities. The DFCTC is poised and ready to help Jefferson County significantly reduce youth substance use.

Madison Substance Awareness Coalition is dedicated to the purpose of reducing youth substance use, thus impacting all Madison County residents, through community assessment, environmental strategies, education, prevention and community outreach. MSAC is committed to strengthening capacity among our youth and community partners in order to properly address the local conditions in Madison County that increase the risks of substance use and promote the development of protective factors to reduce substance use. This project will focus on tobacco/nicotine use and prescription drugs. Today, our kids are using tobacco/nicotine because it’s easy to get and the attitudes and cultural norms are favorable. Parents smoke, coaches use dip, faculty use cigarettes and e-cigarettes in the presence of the students. Enforcement of the Tobacco Free School Policy is low. Retailers are selling to minors. There is not enough prevention messaging and health promotion to encourage our middle school and high school youth to do anything different than their family. Fast forward a few years, our kids will be using prescription drugs, because they are easy to access and attitudes are favorable. Adults are not locking up their mediations or properly disposing of them. They share their medications with friend and family. They don’t think prescription drugs are as serious as street drugs (Community Survey on Substance Use Madison County 2016). We are keenly aware of the role tobacco/nicotine play as a gateway to other youth substance use. We know that “when drugs are perceived as harmless, the probability of use increases. Research indicates that easy access, Availability, to drugs increases the probability of use” (Pride Survey 2016). The qualitative and quantitative data we’ve collected supports our selection of tobacco/nicotine and prescription drugs as our two substance areas. MSAC will focus on reducing youth tobacco/nicotine and prescription drug use and changing the perceptions associated with these substances. The demographic we will serve is middle and high school age students in Madison County (6th – 12th grade). The youth are predominately Caucasian, English speaking male and female students with 5% minority enrollment primarily Hispanic. 78% of our students quality for free/reduces lunches, thus experiencing economic hardships in their families. To achieve this, MSAC will engage 20 Madison youth to start a Teen Task Force and provide leadership development and youth empowerment opportunities to increase understanding of their community responsibility and effectiveness in impacting youth substance use. By following the Seven Strategies for Community Change, these students will become leaders among their peers. We will equip and empower middle and high school students in an effort to reach one of our more vulnerable populations, our youth. This innovative model will engage youth and assist adults in delivering substance prevention messaging within the schools, in the homes and across the community. Teen Task Force students will develop skills necessary to participate in MSAC committees and lead various community projects. Students will also help identify needs within the larger youth population. In order to reduce future youth substance use and move the needle on our priority issues, we must depend on a multi-generational approach. Madison County prides itself in taking care of its own. We see substance abuse as a community crisis and a community responsibility. We are ready to do our part to fix the problem!

The Vida del Norte Coalition (VIDA) means “Life of the North.” VIDA is a response by key individuals in our rural area of northern New Mexico, to the longstanding and severe substance abuse. Alcohol use permeates every aspect of life; prescription drug abuse reflects the extreme abuse and overdose rates of our state (2nd in the nation until recently); we have lost our sense of safety due to drug-related robbery, burglary and physical attack; and drug dealing and drug gangs are often run by our neighbors and family members. VIDA was galvanized in 2014 after a Questa toddler suffered permanent brain damage from ingestion of his parent’s illicit buprenorphine tablet. The horrific effects on this child awakened the community. VIDA, which had been an emerging coalition, then strengthened the structure of our drug free coalition. VIDA’s mission is “to reduce and prevent substance abuse among Northern Taos County youth.” The village of Questa is the largest of nine villages and communities situated in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and Rio Grande River valley, north of Taos, New Mexico extending to the Colorado border. Agriculture, services and tourism are the base of our economy. A mine that was the largest employer closed permanently 2½ years ago exacerbating the widespread poverty and unemployment here. In 2014, 31% of the population in Questa was determined to have poverty status, compared to 20.4% for the State and 15.4% nationwide. Four of five, 82.1%, residents are Hispanic, most of whom have hundreds of years of history and deep connections to the land and culture. The impact of substance abuse on our youth is extreme. Based on a needs assessment, survey data, and qualitative data, the coalition identified two priorities: underage drinking and improper prescription drug use. More than four in ten, 43.4%, Questa High School students reported 30-day drinking (2015 YRRS), compared to 33.0% in Taos County and 26.1% in the state of New Mexico. Questa high school students’ current use of “painkillers to get high” is slightly higher than the state at 9.0%. More than one in ten (12.3%) had used a prescription drug not prescribed to them. Middle school students misused prescription drugs at more than half the high school students’ rate. Among those committed to VIDA are the Questa mayor who is also a county commissioner, the superintendent of the Questa school district, Questa chief of police, the director of the primary care health center, a pastor, a recovery community leader, parents and youth. Our 12-Month Action Plan details specific strategies and actions we will implement in year one of DFC funding to achieve our two goals: increase community collaboration and decrease youth substance abuse, in particular, abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs. Because of the small population, interconnectedness of systems and families, dedication of VIDA members, and the ability to reach all areas of the community, we are confident that we can unite our community to implement environmental strategies that will achieve our goals. Our evaluation plan has three components: process evaluation, outcome/effectiveness evaluation, and impact evaluation. The plan was designed by an evaluator who has six years experience evaluating a DFC coalition. We have confidence in our ability to collect Core Measures Data, other quantitative and qualitative data, and to use these data to guide effective implementation of our Action Plan and make adjustments as needed.

The Oologah Community Connection serves the Oologah-Talala School District in Oklahoma, a community of 9,700. The goals of the coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing environmental strategies that will change societal norms, increase protective factors, reduce youth access, and provide support for prevention, treatment, and drug free lifestyles.

Project Summary The Twin Cities Coalition for Healthy Youth The Twin Cities Coalition for Healthy Youth has spent six years addressing underage alcohol and drug use in its community. The Coalition has been actively building a base support structure and creating awareness through education of these issues in the community. Now the community is ready to take action on these specific environmental strategies below. The research findings from multiple data sources have revealed a substantial adult and youth substance use crisis. The high rates of substance use and cultural norms demonstrate the need for multiple channels of intervention to reduce use and change norms through increased enforcement and improved training and policies, while increasing meaningful youth engagement. The multi faceted action plans in the DFC grant address all these areas. The Athlete Committed Program involves training, education and policy enforcement for youth, adults and coaches. The significance of this program is that it provides a structure for 59% of our students, all of whom participate in sports, to receive targeted information specific to athletes while increasing the policies and consequences around substance use. The Physician Committed Program creates communication between patient and physician to screen for early identification and prevention strategies. This program has a parent component as well. The value in both of these programs is the communication with parents and youth to help change the norms with both audiences. The behavior adults are modeling has a direct impact on the behavior of youth. To reduce retail access, the Merchant Committed Program will address fake IDs, shoplifting and underage sales. To decrease youth exposure to alcohol, the Coalition will work with the Wellness Youth Advisory in the high school to identify problem retail environments and to reduce alcohol related promotions. Increased enforcement will come through the work the Coalition is doing to enhance and expand the Social Host Ordinance. Enforcement and consequences alone are not the answer, but effective enforcement combined with the environmental prevention strategies will change the culture. In addition to implementing the action plans through subcommittees, engaging members of the Coalition, and increasing youth involvement, the Coalition will build capacity and expand communication efforts.

The Healthy Cabarrus Substance Use Coalition (hereinafter referred to as the Coalition) serves all of Cabarrus County with targeted efforts in the larger municipalities of Concord and Kannapolis. Established in 2013, the Coalition represents an extensive array of sectors within the community. Served by a six-member Executive Committee and an Advisory Board of over 35 active community members, the Coalition is divided into four sector-specific work groups, one of which is comprised exclusively of youth. In order to obtain quantitative and qualitative data on substance use rates and community perceptions, the Coalition regularly utilizes three assessment instruments. These assessment efforts have demonstrated growing community concern over the prevalence of substance use, particularly among youth. According to the 2016 Cabarrus County Community Needs Assessment, community members identify substance use as the number one priority area needing to be addressed at this time. Survey data supports the concerns they have raised, demonstrating increasingly problematic usage rates for youth, specifically for that of alcohol and prescription drugs. The two most critical factors found to contribute to these increasing rates are youth's access to and favorable attitudes toward substance use. In response to our community's call to action, the Coalition has designed a 12-Month Action Plan utilizing the Seven Strategies for Community Level Change model that is supported by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). The Coalition has identified two goals within its Action Plan: 1) to increase community collaboration, and 2) to reduce youth substance use. The Coalition aims to meet its first goal by expanding the number of training and community engagement opportunities for its members, as well as seeking additional partnerships that could enhance its capacity. The Coalition aims to meet its second goal through: education; reduction of access; enhancement of barriers; modification of consequences; enhancement of media messaging; modification of policies; and provision of support to youth and the community at large. The Action Plan's progress will be monitored and evaluated jointly by the Program Director, Project Coordinator, and an outside Evaluator on an ongoing and annual basis. This will ensure the Coalition's ability to respond to challenges, build on its successes, and utilize new opportunities as they present themselves. Coalition Leadership will also ensure ongoing evaluation through provision of formal and informal avenues of communication, emphasizing the importance of top-down and bottom-up communication among all community partners who are invested in the program's success.

The Safe Harbor Cohasset Coalition was established in May, 2014. Its mission is to provide substance use prevention education to students, parents and the community at large. We are looking to make the largest impact through environmental and policy changes (outlined in our strategic action plan). The Coalition serves Cohasset, Massachusetts, a community of 8065 people. The goals of the coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance abuse. The strategies we have chosen seek to promote wide and deep involvement throughout town by building a strong and varied coalition whose members and programs measurably decrease the prevalence, frequency, and attitudes regarding the use of alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug usage. We will call on our 12 community sector members in an ongoing and appropriate manner to assist in using the following seven strategies put forth by the DFC. 1. Regularly provide and review evidenced based programs to schools, parents, students, religious groups, businesses, law enforcement and others. 2. Enhance skill sets of coalition members and community sector representatives to insure a cogent and informed prevention message is delivered. Develop skills to build coalition capacity and increase inclusion. 3. Encourage community support by creating activities for youth and families within the town. Other than athletics, our small town currently does not provide many youth outlets for entertainment after school and on weekends. The following activities are in the works: Teen Coffee House, Saturday Night Zumba and Friday Night Movies at the Beach. 4. New barriers will be established to discourage drug, alcohol, and tobacco usage. Age restrictions on tobacco products, sober driving stops, Sticker Shock Programs, enhanced police patrols of gathering places and others will be initiated. 5. Consequences for students will be changed to highlight policies and recognize youth for achievement and example; to include both incentive and disincentive. The Community Heroes Award is will recognize the positive efforts of students and community members. 6. Policies in town will be modified to reflect new attitudes on alcohol, drug and tobacco use. The coalition has advocated for a limit the sale of E-cigarettes and tobacco products by increasing increase the minimum age to 21. Additional alcohol and marijuana monitoring will be instituted at recreational and sporting events. 7. Change physical settings as able; which will foster decreased use and activity/availability of target substances.

The Community Action Commission of Fayette County (CACFC) submits this application for the Drug Free Communities Support Program on the behalf of the Faith in Recovery's Prevention Coalition (PC). The PC proposes to serve rural, Fayette County, Ohio. Fayette County is a small community comprised of around 28,679 individuals. The Faith in Recovery Coalition was formed in Spring 2014 and identified the need to expand their focus in June 2016 to include prevention efforts targeted at local youth. A Planner was hired through an opportunity through the Department of Job and Family Services Healthier Buckeye Program in August 2016 to complete a community needs assessment using the Strategic Prevention Framework. The needs assessment uncovered that many community members, while concerned about the growing heroin epidemic, did not understand the progression of addiction and how early onset of use contributed to this public health crisis. In a survey of 6,8, and 10th graders in the local school districts, serving over 4,600 youth, found the combined use of all grades of substances as follows: alcohol 12%, tobacco 5%, marijuana 5%, and prescription drugs 3%. The greatest percentage of alcohol use was found within the county school district, Miami Trace, at 26%. The greatest amount of marijuana use was found at the city schools, topping out at 13%. In terms of perceived risk/harm of use, marijuana had the greatest number of individuals, 15%, sharing they thought that marijuana was of no risk. Marijuana was also perceived to be the perceived to be of no risk/harm by parents and peers, at the rates of 4% and 12%, respectively. Given these numbers and feedback from focus groups with youth, law enforcement, the school districts, and the community, the coalition determined the need to target alcohol use and perceived risk/harm of marijuana use. To combat these issues the coalition identified the following goals for the project: 1-Increasing Community Collaboration: Attract new members to participate in the coalition, participate on subcommittees, or volunteer to work towards our community’s goal of keeping our youth drug free. The coalition will attract 20 new members or volunteers by 9/29/18. 2-Reducing Youth Substance Use: Reduce youth (6th, 8th, and 10th graders) alcohol use by 5%, as evidenced by the Core Measures Survey, by 9/29/2018. 3-Increase youth (6th, 8th, and 10th graders) perception of the risk of harm of marijuana use by 5%, as evidenced by the Core Measure’s Survey by 9/29/18. To accomplish these goals, the coalition will have three part time staff and members of the youth and adult coalitions implement the following activities: Publicize the coalition's work and recruit new members and volunteers through Facebook, its web-page, and the local radio, television, and newspaper; Enhancing the skills of the coalition through partner provided training, training through the Drug Free Action Alliance, and Youth-to-Youth International; Recognizing youth, coalition members, volunteers, and business supporting the coalition's efforts on social and traditional media outlets; Conducting public awareness prevention campaigns, attending community events and meetings to spread the prevention message; Providing Too Good for Drugs and Life Skills for grades 1-8 in both of the local school districts; Implementing PAX Good Behavior Games incrementally at the local Head Start program and in the elementary schools. One Coordinator will serve as the teacher mentor for the county; Having a prom and graduation pledge campaign and the ""Blunt Truth"" campaign; Supporting youth-led peer to peer prevention projects, training them, and having one Coordinator per school district serving as staff support to those efforts; Conducting a Reward and Reminder Campaign, advocate for businesses to hide paraphernalia, researching teen party and social host ordinances for feasibility, and many other strategies.

Webster County represents a constituency which is typical in nature to many rural, primarily agricultural, communities with the exceptions of its high poverty rate (70% overall above 200% poverty index), high drug related incidences by youth(as reported by the 2016 KIP Student Survey for 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th graders)and community members (as reported by law enforcement statistics and community member interviews,a 17% increase in the Hispanic demographic over the past seven years, and limited drug prevention programs or resources within the community at large. Webster County would be a first-time recipient of a Drug Free Communities Grant. With the growing needs as identified above, the Webster County communities would utilize these funds to create new and innovative approaches to substance abuse prevention. Students and community members have identified alcohol, tobacco and marijuana as the ""drugs of choice"" and the most prevalent abused substances in the community. The Webster County Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy Coalition (WC KY-ASAP) in collaboration with the Webster County Board of Education have outlined a detailed 12 month Action Plan to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth and community substance abuse. The plan includes the creation of the Webster County ""True Blue"" Crew which will include representation from all twelve community sectors. The ""True Blue"" Crew will be committed to working together to promote a drug free Webster County. The Coalition's ""True Blue"" Drug Free Community Action Plan proposal will achieve its goals by implementing the following strategies: *Provide Information: The Coalition will utilize a newly created ""True Blue"" website, county proclamations, town hall meetings, brochures and other media outlets to promote the Coalition and the Webster County ""True Blue"" Drug Free Community mission. *Enhance Skills: The Coalition will provide training workshops and activities designed to increase the skills of community members, students and staff through Character Counts and Life Skills Curriculum as well as ATOD training. *Provide Support: The Coalition will create opportunities for participation in activities such as Fifth Quarter, Truth and Consequences, Supt2Kids Advisory Councils, teen leadership conferences, and town hall meetings and forums. *Enhance Access/Reduce Barriers: The Coalition will provide opportunities for all residents to participate in ""True Blue"" activities by hosting events in all four major townships in the county. *Change Consequences: The Coalition will support law enforcement's efforts to curb substance abuse by providing incentives to law enforcement to reward positive student and community member behaviors. *Change Physical Design: The Coalition will collaborate with Webster County Schools to provide a ""True Blue"" School/Community Resource Liaison on the middle and high school campus. *Modify/Change Policies: The Coalition will advocate for a ""smoke free"" Webster County and reward local businesses for adopting smoke-free policies. Additionally, the Coalition's ""True Blue"" Drug Free Community Action Plan will address risk and protective factors through the utilization of a community-wide ""Character Counts"" campaign. The ""True Blue"" Drug Free Community will establish a new and creative approach toward drug prevention that will positively change the Webster County community behavior and environment.

Impact Norwood is a community coalition, in Norwood, Massachusetts, working to prevent and reduce youth substance use with data driven prevention strategies. Norwood is a suburb southeast of Boston with 28,602 residents. The coalition is comprised of community members, policy makers, community leaders, youth, parents, civic groups, and school, health and police officials, all representing Norwood’s diverse population. Collaboratively, the members aim to decrease the risk factors indicated in substance use and increase the protective factors to empower Norwood’s youth to make healthy and safe choices. Through environmental and sustainable strategies, Impact Norwood will focus on youth alcohol and marijuana uses as priorities. Examples of strategies include educating through information dissemination, and formal evidence-based education with a focus on community/parent education and youth. Additional strategies include limiting access to substances through policy change and increased enforcement efforts, as well as changing the culture and contexts within which decisions are made about substance use by influencing social norms for healthy behaviors and changing the consequences associated with use.

The Sumter Community Action Partnership (Sumter CAP) will work to prevent and reduce youth substance use in Sumter County, Florida. The mission of Sumter CAP is a Drug Free Coalition which works collaboratively with community partners to develop, implement, and promote innovative, sustainable substance free prevention strategies, as well as to educate families within Sumter County, to ensure a safe, substance free, and healthy environment for all our teens and families. Sumter CAP has over 50 Coalition members from the 12 sectors required of a community anti-drug Coalition by SAMHSA and utilizes the Strategic Prevention Framework to guide coalition work. Membership is diverse representing the different cultures in Sumter County, and does not discriminate against our membership or community. If awarded, we will increase our efforts to reduce and prevent youth substance use in Sumter County and the improve the local conditions contributing to that use. Using the Strategic Prevention Framework, Sumter CAP has collected information from local and statewide sources to develop a clear understanding of the county’s substance abuse issues, including both qualitative and quantitative data. Sumter CAP will be focusing efforts on middle and high school aged students (ages 11-17) to prevent and reduce alcohol, marijuana, and illicit prescription drug use. Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among youth, followed by marijuana use. Prescription drug rates among Sumter middle and high school students are higher than Statewide averages, and is an increasing concern among families. We will be focusing on the areas in the county where youth live and go to school, including the many rural pockets of the community. At the start of the 2016/17 school year, there were roughly 4,365 students in 6th through 12th grade, largely outside of The Villages, in the cities of Bushnell, Webster, Center Hill, Wildwood, Coleman, and the unincorporated areas. To reduce and prevent youth alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug use, we will implement 12-month action plans that work to increase coalition capacity and implement community change strategies. Projects include: attended national trainings; providing trainings for our membership and community; sharing coalition information and alcohol and other drug data throughout the community through numerous outlets; monitoring alcohol and other drug related data in the county, state, and nation; implementing social norming programs for youth including alcohol and drug fee events; a campaign aimed at older siblings who are providing youth with alcohol and marijuana; parents who are allowing youth to drink in their homes; an educational onetime class on the laws regarding alcohol and drug use; parent workshops; compliance check operations, working with alcohol vendors to decrease alcohol signage and increase prevention signage; educating the community on medical marijuana concerns; providing safe disposal options for prescription drugs, and other outreach activities such as Red Ribbon Week and Town Hall Meetings. Sumter CAP will monitor and evaluate coalition progress and outcomes as well as 4 core measure changes throughout all phases of implementation. Sumter CAP has the support of numerous community organizations that, working together, will help achieve successful implementation of the DFC grant. The fiscal agency for Sumter CAP, E3 Family Solutions, has been working in Sumter County on prevention initiatives since 2010. Sumter County is a community that is ready to make positive environmental change and increase the health and safety of youth. Through the formation of Sumter CAP, organizations have come together to lower the risk factors and increase the protective factors among Sumter County youth and families. Evidenced by the high levels of participation (over 50 members to date), addressing youth substance use issues and the consequences related to use is now recognized as a leading need of Sumter

The youth substance abuse problems Community in Crisis intends to address are prescription opioids and heroin. The explosion of heroin overdoses represents an urgent and deadly problem. We know the gateway to heroin addiction is often prescription pain medications. This epidemic has not been addressed in a comprehensive way, and there is mandate in the community to bring together resources to address the issue. One path to heroin use begins with experimentation with prescription painkillers. It begins in later high school (12th grade: 4% ever used), but attitudes of acceptance begin forming earlier, underscoring the importance of beginning opioid education at a much earlier age. Data shows 6th graders have a lower perception of risk than 12th graders. We will implement awareness and education programs in both middle schools and high schools to reach students, parents, school staff and coaches. We will recommend that schools begin teaching about opioid risks and general respect for medications in elementary school. We will also look to youth sports organizations and scouts to help deliver this message. We will educate parents about signs and symptoms and addiction as a disease to reduce the stigma and encourage early intervention. Heroin use is occurring as early as 8th grade. This suggests the beginnings of a shift where heroin experimentation is no longer outside the boundaries of acceptability. The low cost relative to prescription opioids and the easy access also explain this possible shift. The high risk of death underscores the need to prevent even one child from using. With the recent warnings from the DMI Report about the arrival in NJ of fentanyl and the deadly carfentanil, 1000 times stronger than heroin, the risks are greatly heightened. Our prevention efforts will include powerful ways to deliver the message of the deadly risk of heroin experimentation beginning in middle school. We will address the ease of access to opioids by promoting and facilitating proper safeguarding and disposal procedures via public outreach and through community organizations, in collaboration with law enforcement. We will work to educate prescribers about the risks and new CDC guidelines and encouraging parents to be active participants in the decision. For those struggling with opioid substance use disorder, we will make sure there is easy access to information on resources, treatment options and Narcan via our website and printed materials. It is extremely difficult to reach post-high school youth with prevention efforts. It is therefore critical to get the message to teens while they are a captive, in-school audience and still under the direct supervision of parents. Our Action Plan will focus on both high school and middle school, with introduction to the opioid issue to younger children. Parents, coaches and prescribers will also be targeted with the prevention message.

The proposed project, ""The Drug Free Communities (DFC) Support Program"", would enable the implementation of strategies to build and strengthen the capacity of the Madison Chatham Coalition (MCC), increase the understanding of the risks of underage drinking and marijuana use; reduce the ease of access to these substances; and increase the perception of parental disapproval of the use of these substances within the communities served by the Coalition, specifically in the age group of 12-17 year olds. It directly meets the DFC Support Program goal ""to prevent and reduce substance use and abuse among youth ages 12-17 in communities throughout the United States."" The communities served by the MCC have a high degree of community readiness and are eager to further develop their leadership capacity around the issue of underage drinking and use of marijuana. The proposed activities will serve three towns in Morris County, New Jersey (Madison Borough, Chatham Borough and Chatham Township). The total population is 35,759, including 9,800 young people under the age of 18. The goal of the proposed project is to reduce the use of alcohol and marijuana by youth ages 12-17 in the targeted communities. Six objectives are necessary to achieve this goal: Establish and strengthen community collaboration: 1. By September 29, 2018, increase Coalition membership by six youth members between the ages of 12-17 and three Coalition members as measured by signed Coalition Involvement Agreements. 2. By September 29, 2018, increase internal capacity by 3% in the number of members who report that they are knowledgeable and prepared to complete the MCC work as measured by the annual Coalition survey. Reduce youth substance use 3. By September 29, 2018, increase the perception of risk of marijuana use by 2% from the data reported in the MCC survey, December 2016. 4. By September 29, 2018, decrease perception of ease of access to marijuana by 2% in youth ages 12-17 from the data reported in the MCC survey, December 2016. 5. By September 29, 2018, increase student self reported perception of parental disapproval of drinking alcohol by 2% as measured by the MCC survey, December 2016. 6. By September 29, 2018, decrease student self perception of ease of access to alcohol by 2% as measured by the MCC survey, December 2016. Proposed activities include training and technical assistance for members to build community capacity about the Strategic Prevention Framework and underage drinking and marijuana research; social and traditional media awareness campaign regarding the consequences of underage drinking and marijuana use/vaping; implement campaigns such as the ""No One's House"" campaign to reduce the number of parents in the community who allow youth to drink in their homes; recruit youth to be a part of the Youth Subcommittee; participation in the planning and implementation of Task Force activities; ongoing monitoring of root causes and local conditions to most effectively address the identified problems; maintain relationships with Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey, Partnership for Drug Free Kids, New Jersey Prevention Network, The Rutgers School of Addiction Studies and Epiphany Evaluation Services and establish and expand our media footprint on Facebook and community websites to increase education and awareness of health and legal liability risks of underage drinking and use of marijuana.

The Coalition serves the City of Sitka, Alaska, a community of 9,060. The goals of the coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing these strategies: the Strategic Prevention Framework and the Seven Strategies for Community Level Change. Specifically, the coalition will initially target youth non-cigarette forms of tobacco use including electronic vapor products, alcohol use with a focus on binge drinking, marijuana use and abuse and eventually prescription drug use and abuse through education, policy development and social norming campaigns. The first year of grant funding will be focused on developing capacity and data gathering and analysis to help understand local substance use and abuse trends, direct coalition efforts, provide a baseline for evaluation purposes and ensure efficient use of funds. Equity and cultural competence will be integrated throughout all prevention efforts.

The Torrington Coalition to Reduce Youth Substance Use serves the Torrington Connecticut community of 36,000. The goals of the coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing these strategies: (1) Increase the resources and readiness of the Torrington Coalition to Reduce Youth Substance Use (2) Ensure that all 12 sectors of the Torrington Community engage in evidence based environmental strategies (3) Change attitudes and behaviors of both youth and adults by increasing penalties for breaking alcohol and drug laws (4) Conduct local evaluation in order to adjust coalition activities accordingly to maximize reductions in youth substance abuse

Having worked together for the past five years to promote positive youth development, the Youth Empowerment and Health! (YEAH!) Community Coalition is aware that numerous risk factors and a lack of protective factors have adversely impacted our community. Issues such as rising socioeconomic challenges, geography and weather, have contributed negatively to the financial security and overall well-being of families living in the isolated communities comprising Lewis County, NY (population 26,957). The losses of industry and employment opportunities, and increasing school and property taxes have stretched families to their limits. Compounding matters, during the winter months, lake effect snowfall often closes schools leaving youth unsupervised at home or entire households snowbound for days. Such elements have contributed to excessive alcohol use and growing substance abuse and addiction among our population. Exposure to such dubious environments affects our children and youth. Accessing available local data, the coalition used the DFC Community Support Program application planning process to develop a responsive and comprehensive action plan. The group examined local conditions and available resources to identify priorities, objectives and corresponding strategies. The result is a design proposed to reduce access and enhance barriers to prevent youth alcohol and substance use, and ultimately, foster safe, healthy, and drug-free communities throughout Lewis County. Mountain View Prevention Services, Inc. and the YEAH! Community Coalition plan to serve 2,177 students in grades 6-12 and their families. The coalition will work to develop environmental strategies that incorporate measures to effect population-level change. Members and their community partners will focus on two goals to promote long-term positive outcomes: 1) increase community collaboration by strengthening and increasing coalition capacity for partnerships with local organizations; and 2) reduce youth substance use - alcohol and prescription drugs. Guided by the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), the YEAH! Coalition will seek to effect community-level change by partnering with leaders representing schools, local government, law enforcement, media, and others from among the required 12 community sectors. Coalition and community members will be trained in the Seven Strategies for Community Level Change, SPF, and the proposed DFC project goals and objectives. In summary, YEAH! Coalition members and local leaders will work to strengthen collaborative efforts and build capacity to create sustainable community-level change, and empower youth to make healthy lifestyle decisions.

The Town of Stoneham is a suburban community of 22,000 confronted daily with big-city issues. Less than ten miles north of Boston's downtown area, Stoneham is inside the Route 128 belt that delineates the core of metropolitan Boston. Major highways and public transportation (bus and rail) travel straight through Stoneham, providing easy, direct access for both commuters and bored youth. In addition, Stoneham's exposure to big-city life is guaranteed by Boston television and radio stations, the Boston Herald, and the Boston Globe. Stoneham Substance Abuse Coalition, along with the legal applicant Town of Stoneham, is addressing local youth substance use issues incident to the Greater Boston area. Supported by quantitative and qualitative data, these include historically high rates of adult consumption of alcohol, historically low perception of disapproval for marijuana use, and the nation's highest heroin and opioid abuse data. Students report that boredom and a lack of entertainment opportunities in town are factors in their high-risk behavior. Because most parents commute to jobs outside of Stoneham, many teens are unsupervised both before and after school. The Coalition is very active in the community and has collected a trove of qualitative data (focus groups, town hall meetings, informal surveys) on youth substance use. A 2015 community forum identified the increased prevalence of community substance abuse – from the highly visible opiate overdose epidemic to acceptable use of marijuana by young adults to on-going adult alcohol abuse – as specific issues that contribute to our community's youth substance use issues. The Coalition's plan addresses key issues with actionable items designed to produce measurable change. The problems to be addressed related to alcohol include the implementation of policy change initiatives to reduce access to alcohol. This will be accomplished through promoting ID check initiatives, advocating for Social Host Ordinance, retailer education on risks and consequences of selling to underage users, and coordinating retailer compliance checks with local police. The Coalition will also increase public awareness of youth alcohol issues through Red Ribbon Week activities, Project Sticker Shock, and other awareness strategies. The problems to be addressed related to marijuana include promoting awareness and education on the health, social, and legal consequences and effect of marijuana through teacher, parent and professional trainings, seminars, and town hall meetings; implement social norms strategies to address misperceptions related to use; and examine and advocate for needed changes to school, law enforcement, and juvenile justice related policies. Finally, the Coalition will restrict the pathway to heroin and opioid addiction via prescription drugs. The problems to be addressed include developing environmental strategies to reduce access to prescription drugs by hosting prescription drug take back events, implementing Operation Medicine Cabinet in collaboration with pharmacies, and educating the community about medication security in homes and safe medication disposal. Much of our strategy will focus on addressing opiate prescription abuse among youth which our data shows to be a leading precursor to later heroin use. The Coalition strives to collaborate with all community organizations focused on youth substance abuse, fostering communication and collaboration among our community's diverse populations. We understand that a community-wide collaboration involves system-wide change and integration of services through a variety of mechanisms. Maintaining this collaboration requires ongoing planning to assess what has been effective, what needs to change, and what needs to be done to reach the community’s goals.

Out of the Dark Inc. (OTD) and Craighead Out of the Dark Coalition (CODC), formed in 2008, are located in the northeast corner of Arkansas, Craighead County. The Coalition’s mission is to establish and strengthen collaboration among service-providing agencies, businesses, faith-based organizations, civic groups, government agencies, and members of the community working together for the reduction and prevention of youth substance use in Craighead County, Arkansas. Substance abuse among youth in Craighead County is common. The 2015 Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment (APNA) student survey data show significant use of an assortment of drugs; the most prominent being alcohol and marijuana with prescription drug abuse on the rise. Factors contributing to this abuse include a lack of consistent funding for prevention efforts, proximity to drug trafficking corridors, easy access to alcohol and other drugs, perceived favorable parental and community attitudes toward drug use, and high incidence of poverty. Youth substance abuse is apparent in the community as seen by Craighead County having the 6th highest rate of juvenile substance abuse arrests in the state in 2015 along with an alarming rise in youth treatment admissions for non-heroin opiates from 2013 to 2015. With funding from the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, CODC will address the issues of alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug abuse in youth (individuals age 18 years and younger) in Craighead County. The proposed project will utilize the Strategic Prevention Framework. Processes and activities will be monitored and evaluated for effectiveness through ongoing data collection to formatively assess the coalition’s progress, determine whether or not stated objectives are met, and measure the impact of the Action Plan activities on the stated objectives. Goals of the CODC 12-Month Action Plan focus on these issues through implementation of the following strategies: • Increase coalition infrastructure and capacity • Strengthen community buy-in and partnerships • Build new community partnerships • Strengthen stakeholder (parents, community members) skills and increase knowledge • Reduce alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug use among youth • Conduct a social marketing campaign to address drug use among youth • Change consequence of alcohol use by providing incentives/disincentives • Reward and enhance youth refusal skills • Provide alternative social events and activities With DFC funding for the proposed project, CODC will work to change the culture of Craighead County so that fewer youth become substance users.

Drug-Free Communities Support Program Application Community Overview Guilford County is located in the state of North Carolina. It is a 658 square mile area located in the north central part of the state. With a diverse population of 512,119 (US Census Bureau, 2014), Guilford County is the 3rd largest county in the state. Guilford County is comprised of two major urban areas, Greensboro and High Point. Greensboro with a population of 282,586 accounts for the majority of residents that live within the county (55%) followed by High Point with a population of 108,629 accounting for approximately 21% of the county’s residents. The county’s population consists of 58% Caucasian, 34% African-American, 8% Hispanic/Latino and 5% Asian. Guilford County experienced a 16% increase in its population between 2000 and 2010 with the largest population group occurring among the Hispanic/Latino community. Guilford County, once an industrial-based center, has been faced with difficult economic challenges over the last several years with the decline/closing of its major industries, textile, and furniture manufacturing. Individuals and families in Guilford County are still dealing with the impact of the economic recession. As of December 2015, 5.3% of residents are unemployed and 17.3% live below the poverty level with 25% of those younger than 18 years old living in poverty. It is interesting to note that since 1938, an additional county court has been located in High Point, making Guilford County one of only a handful of counties nationwide with a dual court system. Guilford County consists of 11 municipalities and 15 townships. In addition to the two major urban areas (Greensboro and High Point), the county includes the following suburban and rural communities: Browns Summit, Gibsonville, Jamestown, Oak Ridge, Pleasant Garden, Sedalia, Stokesdale, Summerfield, and Whitsett. Guilford County has one public school district that has 127 schools and serves over 72,000 students. The county also has 35 private schools and 8 charter schools. Noteworthy is the American Hebrew Academy which is the nation’s first and only pluralistic Jewish Boarding School. The higher education community consists of 8 major colleges and universities as well as several satellite campuses. There are 4 law enforcement agencies: High Point Police Department, Greensboro Police Department, Gibsonville Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Office. The county has several private and public health entities including but not limited to: Guilford County Department of Public Health, Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, Cone Health System, and High Point Regional Health System (UNC Healthcare). There are several “communities within the community”. Guilford County is a refugee resettlement area that hosts thousands of refugees from Asia, Africa and South and Central America. In addition, the county has one of three Urban Survivors Unions within the United States. Also known as “user unions”; this “union” of active users engages in grassroots harm reduction efforts. This reflects the community’s longstanding reputation as the heroin capital of the southeast (particularly High Point).

StepUp! DFC Application Summary The StepUp! Coalition is applying for a FY 2017 Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant in the amount of $125,000 by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in cooperation with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Coalition serves the geographic area of the Lindbergh R-8 School District in Missouri, a community of 43,000 people. The goals of the coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing these strategies related to increasing awareness of the dangers related to underage drinking, marijuana use and prescription drug misuse. Specifically, local merchants will be provided resources to address alcohol sales to minors and awareness campaigns will be implemented during high risk time periods. The community will be provided with information on safe use, storage, and disposal of prescription medications and a marijuana education campaign will be implemented.

The Akwesasne Coalition for Community Empowerment (ACCE) is a community based volunteer organization dedicated to fostering healthy youth, individuals, and families, by working together to promote and provide drug and alcohol-free events for community members. As a long enduring group since its original conception over 15 years ago on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, ACCE’s guiding principles are woven with Mohawk traditions and culture. The group operates as a committee of the whole with a deliberative decision-making process engaging all members with the collective community well-being as its principal goal. Youth substance use problems in our Community are attributed to many contributing factors including lack of monitoring; a shared perception of substances not being harmful; substance use being overall socially acceptable; peer related stress; ease of access; and prescription drugs being safer than illicit drugs, amongst other converging influences. ACCE’s Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program has been developed with the overarching goal of focusing on the collective Community health and well-being in order to address community issues of youth substance abuse by increasing community collaboration and reducing youth substance use of alcohol and prescription drugs and opioids. The project will serve a population of 15,425 community members of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. Our DFC program will continue to expand and improve ACCE’s efforts to foster community level change by utilizing SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework to address identified community needs and emphasize the involvement of community members from the planning stages through implementation of program activities. ACCE’s DFC program is fully supported by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The Tribe recently completed its strategic planning process which highlighted community feedback prioritizing the need to address underage drinking and prescription drug/opiate misuse among youth under the age of 18. The proposed DFC program aligns well with the Tribe's strategic priorities in addition to ACCE’s plans to partner and collaborate with other Community systems and organizations to ensure effective implementation of the program’s planned strategies and activities.

The Drug Free St. Lucie Coalition is dedicated to youth substance abuse prevention coalition serving St. Lucie County, Florida. The mission is “to prevent and reduce youth substance use, increase community awareness, and create change through collaboration, education, prevention initiatives, and policy change.” If awarded the Drug Free Communities Program funding, the Coalition will work to increase community collaboration among residents, organizations, schools, and businesses, and implement the 7 strategies for Community Change to reduce and prevent youth substance use in St. Lucie County. Drug Free St. Lucie has a diverse membership made up of SAMHSA's identified 12 sectors of community anti-drug coalition. The Coalition has developed a comprehensive 12-month Action Plan, with strategies working to educate the community, increase partnerships and resources,assessing the community's youth substance abuse use issues, and make positive environmental changes in St. Lucie County. Strategies include:Town Hall Meetings;Trainings for Coalition and community members; Sharing Coalition information and substance use information through a website, social media sites, a newsletter, local media outlets, and through partner networks; hosting monthly Coalition meetings and Workgroup meetings; attending community events and providing informative presentations; partnering with schools during homecoming and prom to promote the Friday Night Done Right –No Alcohol, No Dope campaign; hosting alcohol and drug free events for teens; implementing the youth-developed DRYLife (Drugs Ruin Your Life) campaign designed by St. Lucie youth; providing the Know the Law Campaign to educated youth on the laws surrounding alcohol and other drug use; conducted compliance checks; providing Responsible Beverage Server Training for local alcohol retailers; distributing No Sales to Minors signage to local retailers; providing Deterra Drug Activation Systems to help decrease youth access to prescription drugs in the home; and more. Coalition staff and key members will monitor and evaluate the progress of the Action Plan to ensure projects are implemented effectively and with fidelity. Drug Free St. Lucie has participated in series of needs assessments in the past few years. Based on all the qualitative and quantitative data collected on youth substance use problems in St. Lucie County, Drug Free St. Lucie will be focusing on alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug use among middle and high school students, mainly ages 11-17 in St. Lucie County. There are currently 22,126 youth enrolled in the District's public school system in grades 6 through 12. The youth in St. Lucie's School District are racially diverse, as 34% of students are White, 30% are African American, 30% are Hispanic, 4% are two or more races, and 2% are Asian or Other. Drug Free St. Lucie will work to reach all populations of students enrolled in middle and high schools through culturally sensitive initiatives and materials and a membership representative of the youth served. From talks with youth and data collected, these substances, alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs, appear to be used through all the different subsets of our population. Reaching the different populations will include strategies targeting the specific local conditions contributing to use in the different areas. We are confident that through our action plan, our membership will be able to help Coalition leaders reach youth where they are and reduce and prevent alcohol, marijuana, prescription drug use among all St. Lucie County middle and high schools aged youth.

Chambersburg Cares will be continue bringing together key area stakeholders to address substance use and abuse issues among youth. Chambersburg Cares will use results of their recent Data Assessment and Resource Assessment to strategically plan and offer a variety of environmental strategies aimed at altering attitudes towards substance use among both parents and youth. The primary substances targeted will be alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs. Chambersburg Cares will offer parent education nights at schools and supplement the work of the coalition members by providing support and guidance on youth activities. Chambersburg Cares will continue working with its Youth Advisory Board, formed by students at the two Chambersburg high schools, to address access and youth and parental attitudes and norms surrounding substance use by youth. Chambersburg Cares will utilize public education campaigns to education area residents on underage drinking, prescription drug abuse and the availability of tobacco to minors.

The Kearny Prevention Coalition, in partnership with the Town of Kearny (Legal Grantee) is requesting FY 2017 Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant funding in the amount of $625,000. The Coalition serves the Town of Kearny, New Jersey, a community of 40,684. The goals of the Coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The Coalition will achieve these goals by: establishing and strengthening community collaboration; providing training for Coalition volunteer members and key stakeholders on cutting edge information pertaining to effective prevention strategies; improving the Town’s data-collection and analysis related-systems; establishing an information pipeline to the public, via the development of bilingual website and social media presence that will provide current information to the community on important youth substance use issues; creating opportunities for our youth to participate in drug-free alternative activities that reduce the risk of substance use; changing environmental (parks and recreational areas) physical designs to reduce the risk or youth substance use; modifying or changing formal written policies within the Town of Kearny, local businesses, and other important entities; and enhancing community access to prevention, early intervention and substance abuse-related services.