Tuesday, May 13, 2025
5/13/2025
Lawrence County Government on behalf of Lawrence County Substance Abuse Coalition Drug Free Communities - The Lawrence County Government on behalf of Lawrence County Substance Abuse Coalition is applying for the Drug Free Communities grant to launch our project "Law Co Youth Leading". This project plans to increase understanding of the Strategic Prevention Framework and how we can use this to directly affect community change regarding early exposure to substances that can lead to substance use disorders. This grant will serve 25% of the entire county population which is 3,466 youth ages 12-17 attending the Lawrence County School System. The population of Lawrence County is 43,081 with a demographic of 95.7% Caucasian, 1.7% African American, 2.1% Hispanic or Latino, 1.6% two or more races, 0.5% Asian and 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native. These youth, along with many in America are dealing with underage drinking, marijuana use and prescription misuse. Focus groups, key informant interviews and surveys reveal they access alcohol through retailers not properly carding and socially through older siblings, friends and even parents. They misuse prescription medications through over prescribing practitioners and socially by sharing or stealing out of medicine cabinets. Marijuana is accessed socially and also smoked in electronic nicotine devices (ENDS). Strategies include building capacity of our coalition to make sure we have proper partners on board including youth leaders to help us protect our youth. We have strong partnerships and will continue to build more relationships to make sure all partners have the readiness and resources to create change in our community. Strategies and interventions will also include building skills and providing information to youth, parents, local leaders, beer boards, law enforcement, school administration/teachers, and businesses on what local youth are facing and the consequences from destructive decisions. We will also help educate and advocate for policy change that helps protect our youth from exposure. Goals include assessing and working toward reduction of 30-day use of alcohol, marijuana and misuse of prescription drugs including opioids. We will also work to increase perception of harm and decrease peer and parental approval to use these substances. Our goal is to serve students 12-17 which total over 3,000 students annually in the Lawrence County School System and continue to serve this population throughout the project's lifetime.
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).