Monday, April 29, 2024
4/29/2024
The purpose of the Pontotoc County Drug Free Communities RX Enhancement Grant Program (DFC RX) is to prevent and reduce the abuse of prescription medications with youth, ages 12-18, in Pontotoc County. DFC RX will target all youth, ages 12-18, in Pontotoc County, as well as adults that regularly interact with and impact local youth, to reduce youth misuse of prescription drugs, decrease social access to prescriptions, and raise awareness of the issues associated with prescription drug misuse. There are approximately 5,050 youth, ages 10-19, residing in Pontotoc County. The total population for the county is 38,194. Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, is located 88 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The demographic breakout of the county is 70.2% White, 18.6% Native American, 2.6% African American, 5.0% Hispanic, & 0.9% Asian. Approximately 51.1% of the population is female & 48.9% is male. From 2010-2014, the median household income in Pontotoc County was $42,566. About 17.3% of the population was below the poverty line (United States Census Bureau, 2015). Almost 59% of the county’s population is affiliated with a religious congregation, Evangelical Protestant being the largest at 43.2% (City-Data.com, 2013). Pontotoc County contains seven towns. Ada, the county seat, is the largest with an estimated population of 17,303 (United States Census Bureau, 2015). Pontotoc County covers 720 square miles, the majority of which is located within the Chickasaw Nation (United States Census Bureau, 2011). The Chickasaw Nation is a federally-recognized Native American nation. DFC RX program goals, objectives, and strategies are as follows: Goal 1: Reduce youth non-medical use of prescription medications. Objective 1A: Decrease last 30 day prescription misuse by Pontotoc County youth by 3% by 6/14/2019 as measured by OPNA surveys. Goal 2: Increase youth perception of harm of nonmedical use of prescription medications. Objective 2A: Decrease perception of prescription drug misuse as “helpful” by 5% by 6/14/2019 as measured by 2019 focus groups. Strategies planned to meet these goals include community, parent, and youth education, including promotion of parent modules; education, promotion, and provision of prescription drug lock boxes with MOUs; provider education forums, including updates to prescription monitoring program, development of media messaging by youth coalition; training of coalition members on prescription drug prevention advocacy; reality parties; education, promotion, and events related to prescription drug drop boxes; assisting local businesses and providers with new prescription drug policies; and development and implementation of school-based prescription drug prevention curriculum.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
