Thursday, May 1, 2025
5/1/2025
Gandara Center Stop Access Drug Free Communities Expansion - The Gandara Center led, Stop Access Drug Free Communities Coalition, is an established community-based youth alcohol and substance use prevention coalition with broad cross-sector representation, and proven capacity to effect community-level change in the majority/minority city of Springfield, MA. The Coalition works to prevent and reduce youth alcohol use through strategies and initiatives designed to affect environmental, policy, and behavioral changes. The target population is an expansion of current DFC services, and includes youth between the ages of 12-20 years old within 3 new target neighborhood of Bay, McKnight, and Pine Point in Springfield, MA. Springfield, the state’s 3rd largest city, is located in Hampden County, Western MA. Youth within these neighborhoods have the highest 30-day PNAS measured alcohol use among Springfield neighborhoods, and is twice as high as current DFC focused neighborhood. The Springfield Public Schools district serves a diverse, high risk population of 25,297 youth & families comprised of 81% Hispanic identified youth, 17% African American, 77% of youth who are Economically Disadvantaged, 27% youth with English as not their 1st language, and 82% defined as High Need, and high rates of depression among Latino, Asian and LGBTQ youth. Interventions: All activities under this funding request will be implemented by the Stop Access Coalition supported by a Project Director and Coordinator. The Coalition will leverage existing momentum to expand member recruitment; plan/facilitate town halls; provide parent/guardian trainings; pilot EBP trainings in Motivational Interviewing to support screening & interventions; and reduce underage youth access to alcohol through retailer surveys and cashier training. Goals & Objectives: 1)increase & strengthen community collaboration to reduce youth alcohol use within new target neighborhoods by: recruiting new coalition membership, facilitate town hall meetings to solicit local qualitative data for annual action planning; strengthen participation in PNAS and enhanced information dissemination efforts. 2) reduce alcohol use among youth in target communities by reducing retail access by: providing underage sale training to cashiers, conducting Alcohol purchase surveys (compliance monitoring) 3) increase the number of parents/guardians who report it is wrong/very wrong for youth to use alcohol by providing trainings and dialogue resources to parents. 4) Provide pilot training to School capacity to apply MI EBP to identify/support youth who are contemplating or experimenting with alcohol use as identified during oral administration of SBIRT & increasing youth readiness for support. Numbers served: Years 1 & 3: Outreach/Education/information dissemination: 3,150 (Youth PYD health awareness events, community events & presentations) Training/Direct service: 110 (Parents, retailers, school staff). Years 2 & 4: Outreach/Education/information dissemination: 6,150 (PNAS, Youth PYD health awareness events, community events & presentations) Training/ Direct service: 110 (Parents, retailers, school staff). TOTAL 4 yrs. Outreach/ Education/information:18,600 individuals; Training/ Direct service: 440 individuals.
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