Prevention Means Progress (PMP) - The Prevention Means Progress (PMP) Coalition respectfully requests $125,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program – Competing Continuation Grant to continue our mission to empower people to take action against substance abuse by providing education, enhancing skills, and changing policies to increase awareness and help individuals and communities stay ahead of substance abuse.
To achieve this mission, our project goals and outcomes include the following: 1) Increase community awareness of the dangers of meth, as measured by 6 new completed membership forms, by expanding community understanding of and engagement in the work of PMP; 2) Increase awareness in the community and youth on the connection between childhood trauma and substance use (specifically marijuana and meth use), as measured by 15 community and school presentations, by expanding community knowledge on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how trauma can contribute to risk for substance use (meth and/or marijuana) through education; 3) Increase PMP’s legislative education on marijuana legalization, for both medicinal and recreational use, as measured by 5 educational presentations or one-on-one conversations with local/state legislators, by increasing policymakers’ knowledge of the dangers of marijuana use on youth and communities through education; 4) Reduce the number of youth and adults who know someone who’s been affected by meth by 5%, as measured by PMP Pre-Survey, by increasing awareness of dangers and negative effects of meth use to youth and parents through educational opportunities; and 5) Increase youth perception of harm of using marijuana by 5%, as measured by the Iowa Youth Survey (Pottawattamie County Data) and the Nebraska Risk and Protective Factor Student Survey, by increasing awareness of dangers and negative effects of marijuana use to youth, parents, and community through educational presentations and a comprehensive media campaign on marijuana use with input from local youth.
PMP has been in operation since 2004, serving school districts in Pottawattamie County in Iowa, and Sarpy and Douglas counties in Nebraska to prevent the use and abuse of methamphetamine, and other substances, among youth in grades 6th-12th. Today, coalition membership includes 65 organizations and agencies in both Iowa and Nebraska. In our service areas, PMP has continued to see youth struggling with meth, marijuana and other abuses of substances. Our communities have been inundated with meth use in families, and with Nebraska and Iowa in such close proximity to Colorado where marijuana is now legalized, we are observing that a greater number of youth perceive marijuana as a less harmful substance. When youth choose to use marijuana, it often becomes a gateway drug to more harmful substances like meth. This ongoing trend supports PMP’s work and its mission to reach youth with education and advocacy to reduce youth substance abuse.
PMP anticipates serving approximately 1,100 youth in grades 6th -12th and 900 adults, parents and/or community members during each year of the project for a total of approximately 10,000 individuals served over the course of the 5-year project.
