Thursday, April 24, 2025
4/24/2025
Planet Youth Coalition - Partnership for Success in Reducing Underage Drinking and Substance Abuse in New Castle County. - Planet Youth Coalition will implement a prevention initiative to address underage drinking among persons aged 9 to 20 in New Castle County, Delaware by delivering evidence-based prevention programs through alternative activities at Bellevue Community Center, training educators at Christina School District to implement evidence-based prevention programming, and conducting a youth-led media campaign to change community norms around under-age drinking. New Castle County is home to an estimated 555,036 people. 21.98% of residents, (121,990 people), are under 18. Of the total number of residents, 64.85% are White and 24.61% are African American. 9.57% identify as Hispanic. In state surveys, 59.2% of high school students and 19.3% of middle school students in New Castle County reported ever drinking alcohol. Using the SPF, Planet Youth Coalition identified the need to address marijuana use among youth ages 9-20 as an additional priority. 29.1% of New Castle County high school students reported using marijuana in the last 30 days. Planet Youth Coalition brings together 12 sectors in a unified mission to prevent substance abuse in New Castle County. Planet Youth Coalition will implement a comprehensive community-based prevention program to address under-age drinking and marijuana use with the following goals and objectives:1) Strengthen protective factors among New Castle County youth to resist binge drinking and marijuana use by implementing evidence-based substance abuse prevention programs at Bellevue Community Center. Planet Youth Coalition will engage 200 youth annually (1000 over the course of the project) in evidence-based prevention programs integrated in alternative activities to address individual risk behaviors for under-age drinking; 2) Increase the capacity of the local school district to reduce high-risk behaviors of students that may contribute to under-age drinking. Planet Youth Coalition will train 75% of health educators at Christina School District middle and high schools to deliver evidence-based prevention programming to all students; 3) Reduce peer and parent acceptance throughout New Castle County of under-age drinking, binge drinking and providing alcohol to minors through a comprehensive, county-wide, substance use prevention media campaign with a targeted ad-buy that will reach approximately 280,000 New Castle County residents per year. After five years, high school student survey results will show a 2% increase in perceived risk of binge drinking, a 2.5% decrease in underage drinking, and a 2% increase in the perceived risk of marijuana use by 9-20 year old youth in New Castle County as measured by the Delaware School Drug and Alcohol Survey; 4) Develop the infrastructure of the Planet Youth Coalition to increase community capacity to implement, sustain, and improve effective substance abuse prevention services in New Castle County. The Planet Youth Coalition will coordinate prevention activities and track achievement of measurable prevention objectives and community impact.
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).