The purpose of the proposed Strategic Prevention Framework- Partnerships for Success project is to build the capacity and infrastructure necessary to create sustainable community-level change and improve effective substance misuse prevention services to prevent and reduce underage drinking, as well as its related negative consequences, by youth aged 9-20 years old. The proposed project will cover a five-county region and will include Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Catawba, and Wilkes Counties. Each community has been plagued with their own history of substance misuse from moonshine, to tobacco, to marijuana, to methamphetamine, to prescription opioids and heroin, to wineries and distilleries. Given this history, increasing the capacity and infrastructure of the five counties to tackle youth substance use, and specifically underage drinking, is paramount to the overall health of these counties.
Because of each county's rich history of substance misuse, the population of focus for all counties for the project is each county in its entirety, which is approximately 300,000 individuals, with special emphasis on community stakeholders, parents, and youth. The project seeks to serve this number annually and over the life of the project. The proposed project will serve the five-county region with its six main goals: to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance misuse in youth and young adults ages 9-20; to reduce alcohol abuse-related problems; to strengthen prevention capacity/infrastructure at the community level; to leverage other funding streams and resources for prevention; to implement a comprehensive prevention approach, including a mix of evidence-based programs, policies, and/or practices that best address the selected prevention priorities; and to identify technical assistance and training needs and the development of responsive activities. Progress towards goals will be measured by past 30-day alcohol use, peer and parental disapproval, perception of harm of alcohol, age of initiation of alcohol use, alcohol-related consequence data (i.e. alcohol-related crashes), increase community readiness and capacity to address underage drinking, increase youth capacity to plan and lead underage drinking initiatives, and increase support for agencies that work with people affected by substance use/misuse.
Through SPF-PFS funding, the five counties will work to further strengthen capacity and collaboration among adults and key stakeholders, as strong partnerships will be vital to the success of the project. Special emphasis will be placed on 9-20 year-olds which accounts for an average of 20% of the overall population. Utilizing the most effective public health prevention strategies focused on community collaboration and environmental change, Western Youth Network, Project Lazarus, and Integrated Care of Greater Hickory will provide evidence-based initiatives to address underage drinking in rural youth and young adults. The site coordinators will engage the youth by outreaching to public-school systems and community colleges as well as to church youth groups, youth-oriented groups, and private and charter schools.