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Stoughton Wellness Coalition will work to reduce youth substance use by implementing the following goals. DFC Goal One: Increase community collaboration Objective 1: Increase the capacity of the Stoughton Wellness Coalition by recruiting 3 additional members at large and 1 additional Youth representative by September 29, 2018, as measured by the membership list. DFC Goal Two: Reduce youth substance use Objective 1: Reduce 30-day alcohol use by 3% by September 29, 2018 in youth ages 12-18 as measured by YRBS data. Objective 2: Reduce 30-Day use of prescription drugs by 2% by September 29, 2018 in youth ages 12-18 as measured by YRBS data.

Application for Evergreen Public Schools to serve as the applicant and fiscal agent on behalf of Connect Evergreen Coalition. Connect Evergreen Coalition partnered with PREVENT! Coalition of Clark County through the Drug Free Communities Mentoring Program. This collaboration allowed in-depth training for coalition members on the Strategic Prevention Framework, Environmental Strategies, Building Coalition Capacity, recruitment of the the 12 Sector Representatives and the development of a strategic action plan. Coalition members were able to attend and graduate from the CADCA National Leadership Academy. Coalition members attended the CADCA National Leadership Forum. By receiving the DFC Grant, Connect Evergreen will continue to build capacity for prevention work and reduce substance abuse in the the Evergreen School District and the community that it supports.

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 Kane Community Coalition is applying for the DFC under the direction of Kane County. The Kane Community Consolations goal is establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, public and private non-profit agencies, as well as federal, state, local, and tribal governments to support the efforts of community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth. The KCC's other goal is to reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, reduce substance abuse among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse. the coalition will accomplish this by limiting access, changing culture and context, shift the consequences associated with youth substance use.

Youth & Family Services, Inc. (YFS), the fiscal agent for the Oyate Okolakiciye Coalition, is requesting $125,000 per year for five years to implement a Drug Free Communities project to reach approximately 5,000 youth, ages 12-18, in Rapid City, SD with a focus on American Indian youth. The coalition has developed a 12-month action plan to meet the two DFC goals: increase community collaboration and reduce youth substance use. The objectives and strategies to address the two DFC Goals include: DFC Goal One: Increase community collaboration: Objective 1: By 9/29/18, increase by 10% the coalition’s capacity for community collaboration as measured by an annual coalition survey, coalition and board meeting minutes, meeting attendance records, membership list, and focus groups and/or interviews. Objective 2: By 2/29/18, increase collaboration among community organizations by 10% as measured by an annual community collaboration survey, post-event satisfaction surveys, meeting attendance records, meeting minutes, and focus groups or interviews. DFC Goal Two: Reduce youth substance abuse: Objective 1: By 9/29/18, increase by 4% the perception of risk or harm of use and perception of peer disapproval of use of alcohol by youth, ages 12-18 (with a focus on American Indian youth), as measured by the annual Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Student Survey and pre and post evidence-based curriculum surveys. Objective 2: By 9/29/18, reduce by 2% past 30-day use of alcohol by youth, ages 12-14, and by 5% for ages 15-18 (with a focus on American Indian youth), as measured by the annual Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Student Survey and pre and post evidence-based curriculum surveys. Objective 3: By 9/29/18, increase by 5% the perception of risk or harm of use and perception of peer disapproval of use of marijuana by youth, ages 12-18 (with a focus on American Indian youth), as measured by the annual Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Student Survey. Objective 4: By 9/29/18, reduce by 2% past 30-day use of marijuana by youth, ages 12-14, and by 5% for ages 15-18, as measured by the annual Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Student Survey. Objective 5: By 9/29/18, increase by 4% the perception of risk or harm of use and perception of peer disapproval of use of meth by youth, ages 12-18 (with a focus on American Indian youth), as measured by the annual Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Student Survey and pre and post evidence-based curriculum surveys. Objective 6: By 9/29/18, reduce by 1% past 30-day use of meth by youth, ages 12-14, and by 2% for ages 15-18, as measured by the annual Rapid City Area Schools (RCAS) Student Survey and pre and post evidence-based curriculum surveys. Strategies include: Increase coalition visibility and credibility as a leader in the field of substance use prevention; Coordinate with other community organizations providing substance abuse services and/or serving the same target population; Provide education and awareness about the consequences of alcohol, marijuana, and meth use and abuse for youth, ages 12-18 (with a focus on American Indian youth); Provide education and awareness about the consequences of youth alcohol, marijuana, and meth use and abuse for parents; Provide Healthy Alternatives to alcohol, marijuana, and meth use for youth, ages 12-18, and their parents (with a focus on American Indian youth); Reduce access to alcohol, marijuana, and meth by youth, ages 12-18, in and out of the home (with a focus on American Indian youth).

LowCountry Alliance for Healthy Youth The LowCountry Alliance for Healthy Youth serves Hilton Head & Bluffton, South Carolina, a community of 60,000 combined. 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 strategies to reduce access, increase perception of harm and reduce approval of youth alcohol use, marijuana use, and misuse of prescription drugs within our communities. A combination of individual and environmental strategies have been identified, which include but are not limited to: community forums, a social marketing campaign, law enforcement efforts to reduce access, merchant trainings, trainings to increase the skills of organizations within the community sectors, advocating for changes in policies/legislation at the local and state levels, supporting youth driven initiatives.

The Lincoln Prevention Coalition (LPC) is proposing to serve the Town of Lincoln through a number of prevention strategies. In an effort to increase community collaboration, the LPC will continue to outreach to potential community partners to join the LPC in its community prevention work; increase membership and involvement with the LPC; increase communication with physicians; improve their branding of community messages about the coalition work. The LPC will be assessing the skills of its Coalition and provide training to Coalition members, so they may best plan and develop strategies for youth and community members. In order to deal with the increase in youth substance use, the LPC will offer community education and information through a variety of venues: face to face through Town Hall meetings, Parent presentations and workshops and youth education; through the development of mass media and social norms media campaigns focused on marijuana, prescription drugs, alcohol and emerging tobacco products; print media to provide information to specific populations and the general public; social media through a number of venues, e-mail newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. The LPC will implement the Above the Influence Program with its high school youth in an effort to develop and share media messages with their peers

The Hogar CREA Drug-Free Community Coalition is applying for a federal FY 2017-18 Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant in the amount of $125,000 available through the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Population to be Served: The Hogar CREA Drug-Free Community Coalition serves two contiguous counties, Trujillo Alto and Carolina, in the greater San Juan metropolitan of Puerto Rico. The combined population of these two counties is 206,269 with 16.2% (33,416) age 6-17 years. The Coalition serves the area's 14,831 10-17 year olds (7% of the population). 99% of the population is Hispanic and Spanish is the official and prevalent language. The zip codes targeted are: 00976, 00987, 00985, and 00984. Children and families are deeply impacted by the decade long economic crises in Puerto Rico. An average of 28.2% of the population live in poverty and the unemployment rate is 12%. The island's infrastructure has been depleted and weakened over the past decade and there has been a significant loss of population (-10% in San Juan). Amongst those leaving are professionals who have fled poor economic conditions to seek opportunities especially on the US mainland. The out-migration has broken up families and further undercut capacity to raise drug-free healthy children. Additionally, the island serves as a port for the drug-trade and many area youth are now being swept up into gangs and drug-trafficking. Alcohol is the number one substance of use by PR youth. 46.7% of CREA 12th graders report 30-day past use 23.7% of CREA 12 graders report past 30-day use. This urban area is high-risk for youth substance use and abuse. Strategies and Activities: Coalition goals are to 1. increase community collaboration, and, 2. to reduce youth substance use. The coalition is focusing on alcohol and marijuana as the gateway drugs to deeper drug-use and negative behaviors. The coalition will achieve this by implementing these strategies: reducing retail and social access to alcohol and marijuana, changing social norms and beliefs accepting of substance use, conducting media counter-messaging, and influencing laws and policies. Special activities include: environmental compliance and education scans with local alcohol retail vendors; promoting a community norm of zero tolerance for sale of alcohol to minors; activities aimed at youth and parents to raise prevention awareness of the risk of harm of alcohol and marijuana; family prevention awareness activities; youth pro-social engagement activities; counter-messaging activities to promote prevention; promoting the SBIRT evidence based practice to screen adolescents for drug use; and, promoting ""safe havens"" for youth as positive alternatives for youth during high-risk times when they are out of school. The program will build on the strengths of Puerto Rican culture with its emphasis on family and faith. Coordination with State/Local Health Agencies: The Coalition will coordinate with all appropriate state and local health agencies as well as a network of health and behavioral health providers to implement various activities and promote change strategies including advocating use of SBIRT screening protocols; and addressing health/mental health issues associated with substance use findings. The Coalition is sponsored by a premier Puerto Rican drug treatment provider, Hogar CREA, Inc., that has provided the Coalition with tremendous good will and access in working with the provider and government entities that are key to success including representatives of state agencies located in the San Juan metro area. Several health community leaders are on the Coalition board including the President of Health Medical,Corp. and a representative from the Municipal Government Trujillo Alto Office of Drug Prevention.

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 communities of Lawrence Park Township and Wesleyville Borough, under the leadership of Iroquois School District, formed a community coalition (#PYDONEFAMILY) in 2014 to reduce youth substance abuse in the community. The coalition, in an effort to strengthen its capacity and sustainability, applied for the Drug Free Communities (DFC) Grant. Funding from the DFC Grant will support the coalition in its implementation and evaluation of individual and environmental interventions to reduce alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug use through evidence-based practices. This will be supported through collaborative efforts with drug prevention resources and training/technical assistance. #PYDONEFAMILY will provide information, enhance skills, provide support, reduce access/enhancing barriers, and promote changes in consequences, physical design, and policies to reduce youth substance abuse.

The Boys & Girls Club of Chester is applying for $125,000 to create a Drug Free Communities coalition in the Chester Upland School District communities of the city of Chester, the Borough of Upland, and Chester Township (a community of 41,352). The goals of the coalition are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use and abuse. The coalition will implement the strategies associated with SAMSHA’s Strategic Prevention Framework, Assessment, Capacity, Planning, Implementation and Evaluations. In addition, the coalition will achieve its goals by implementing the following seven strategies for community change: 1.) Providing Information, 2.) Enhancing Skills, 3.) Providing Support, 4.) Enhancing Access/Reducing Barriers, 5.) Changing Consequences, 6.) Physical Design, and 7.) Modifying/Changing Policies regarding youth substance use and abuse.

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.

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.

The Coalition For Health Promotion project will implement environmental prevention strategies in order to (1) reduce youth substance use, and (2) establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, community agencies, systems of care, educational institutions, and existing community coalitions as a means of reducing substance use among youth. The focus community is Youngstown, Ohio, which is located in the northeastern part of the State in Mahoning County. Youngstown is the largest urban area in Mahoning County. Specific census tracts targeted are 8019, 8020, 8021, 8022, and 8023, which are located on the South Side of town, encompassing portions of zip codes 44502, 44507, and 44511. Boundaries for this area are Market Street at Woodland Avenue to Indianola Avenue to Glenwood Avenue and back down to Woodland. Multiple risk factors exist within this community which increase the probability of youth substance uses and the manifestation of the six problem adolescent behaviors, such as extreme economic deprivation, low community attachment and community disorganization, family conflict, academic failure, availability of alcohol, and transitions and mobility, along with limited protective factors. The Strategic Prevention Framework and the Seven Strategies for Community Level Change are the methodological processes that will be utilized and are embedded in all program strategies and evaluation processes. The project will specifically focus on utilizing strategies contained in the 12 Month Action Plan to reduce alcohol and marijuana use among youth. Specific interventions utilized seek to change community norms, reduce access to substances, utilize and target the media, and engage in changing public policy. Enhancing the capability of the existing substance use prevention system to provide innovative service, and facilitating coordination of services among those who work closely with youth (prevention agencies, schools, community based agencies, faith based community, etc.) will be key a key component of programming. Strengthening families will also be targeted through strategies contained in the 12 Month Action Plan. Additionally, the project will implement environmental prevention strategies which will facilitate multi agency and systems collaboration, with the intent of enhancing the local substance use prevention system, the efforts of other local coalitions, community based organizations, educational institutions, and social service agencies, so that collectively we can utilize our professional expertise and resources to reduce youth substance use, improve system collaboration, and facilitate sustainability. The impact of this should be a healthier, safer community where youth thrive and do not succumb to substance abuse and other behavioral health disorders.

The Cincinnati for HOPE (Healthy Outcomes through Prevention Efforts) Coalition, the applicant coalition

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 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 Prevention Education for East Ramapo (PEER) Coalition will engage Rockland County students and families within the boundaries of the East Ramapo Central School District. This is a vibrant community that is economically, racially and culturally diverse. East Ramapo’s public school population breaks down into the following demographic categories: 47% Black/African American (of which approximately 30% are of Haitian descent); 41% Latino/Hispanic; 6% White; 6% Asian. ESL students make up 23%, and special education students account for 25% of the population. The East Ramapo Central School District serves a community of approximately 126,000 residents. Almost 18% of the community’s population lives below the poverty level. This poverty is reflected in the schools, where 10% of local children had neither parent in the work force, and 13% live in extreme poverty, with family incomes less than 50% of the federal poverty level. At some schools, almost three quarters of the students are eligible to receive free or reduced lunch. The overall community has experienced substantial growth in the newly-immigrated, foreign-born population, and of non-English speakers. The PEER Coalition is well aware of the need for prevention strategies in the community, as evidenced by the PRIDE Survey and other youth substance abuse data collected by the Coalition. The data throughout this proposal will demonstrate that the PEER Coalition serves a community with great needs. PEER is concluding a two-year DFC mentoring process. We are confident that we now have the proper training and technical assistance for the PEER Coalition to become a powerful change agent in our community, improving the health and wellbeing of youth in East Ramapo. We have become trusted in the community and respected for our inclusive approach in a community where many feel shut out. The coalition has identified alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug use as the priority substances to be addressed in this project. PEER has planned activities in the 12-month Action Plan to address each of the targeted substances utilizing the seven strategies for community change. Given the youth-perceived easy access to alcohol, PEER plans to education retailers about the dangers of youth alcohol use. PEER will develop packets of information for retailers that encourages employees to verify IDs when customers make alcohol purchases, and will work with local law enforcement to conduct compliance checks on local retailers to ensure they are properly enforcing these policies. Additionally, PEER has planned community awareness campaigns including “Parents Who Host Lost the Most” and “Sticker Shock.” To combat youth marijuana use, PEER plans to increase community awareness with Red Ribbon Week activities. Since heroin use frequently follows prescription drug abuse, PEER plans to institute a regular Prescription Drug Take Back event, in order to keep dangerous substances out of the hands of our children. We also plan to continue and intensify our extensive coordination and collaboration with law enforcement efforts to combat the ongoing local heroin epidemic. To increase the youth perception of risk or harm of alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs, PEER plans educational events in the local schools to increase student awareness of these issues.

Northpointe Council’s prevention program has taken the lead in establishing the coalition, beginning efforts in 2010, and CHANT was officially launched in June 2014. The four substances that CHANT will be addressing in North Tonawanda are alcohol, tobacco (including e-cigarettes), marijuana, and prescription drugs. This selection was made based on data gathered from focus groups, key informant interviews, Town Hall Meetings, Community Forums, a community health survey, a follow-up to the community health survey, and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) survey data collected from 8th, 10th, and 12th graders attending North Tonawanda Middle and High Schools. Some of the issues the coalition proposes to address include community norms favoring use, availability of substances, perceived parental disapproval of use, lack of information regarding risk and harm of use, and enforcing policies. CHANT's Mission and Vision Statements are: Mission Statement: Our mission is to reduce substance use among youth by empowering our community as we monitor, assess, and contribute to the revitalization of a safe and healthy North Tonawanda. Vision Statement: Our vision is to work with youth to: Create Awareness Cultivate Prevention and Contribute to Community Wellness The goal for year one is to address these issues by incorporating several strategies for community level change into the action plan. This will be achieved by: providing information at various events (conducting Town Hall Meetings, programs for youth and adults, distributing brochures and information at health fairs, etc.), and enhancing skills (workshops for parents, responsible server trainings, model programs in the elementary schools). At the community level, this will be accomplished by reducing access/enhancing barriers (implementing alcohol compliance checks), changing consequences (mandatory responsible server training for those arrested for making sale) and modifying/changing policies (school/business tobacco policies, mandatory parent seminar at schools). The community survey that was conducted in North Tonawanda from June 2014-November 2014 showed that the highest areas of concerns for community members involve alcohol use, drug use, mental health issues and domestic violence. CHANT leadership and members have formed partnerships with many agencies in order to collaborate with this project, including Planned Parenthood, Catholic Charities, WNY Prevention Resource Center, National Guard, Mobile Safety Net, YWCA of the Tonawandas, North Tonawanda Youth Center, Native American Community Services, Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, North Tonawanda Police Department and the North Tonawanda school district.

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 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 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.

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 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.