Challenging the culture and systems surrounding our youth, Chippewa Health Improvement Partnership (CHIP) aims to support the movement towards a community free from substance use beginning now with the Reaching, Educating, Achieving Community Health (REACH) project. REACH will focus on preventing youth alcohol and tobacco use, by working with schools, students, and other community partners on changing the culture and perception of harm around substances in the community. The Chippewa County community of more than 64,000 is struggling to combat the growing epidemic with substance use within our youth population. Current rates of alcohol and drug use, both legal and illegal, for the more than 14,800 youth are increasing or remaining unchanged. These trends must change.
Alcohol use is entrenched in Chippewa County culture. Home to several breweries and wineries, many members of the community, including our youth, have grown up viewing alcohol as a rite of passage, a norm, and a way of life. CHIP will confront this concept of acceptance through collaborations with schools, community leaders, and law enforcement, providing education to the public on Social Host Laws and other environmental strategies that can be implemented to limit the access youth have to alcohol products and lower the current perception of acceptance within our youth. It is time for our community to take shared responsibility for creating conditions that support positive choices regarding alcohol. REACH plans to decrease by 1% the number of students who report being served alcohol at home (from 34% to 33%) by September 2020.
In addition, advancements in technology have changed the tobacco industry, making concealment and availability of new harmful tobacco products to our youth easier and more appealing. CHIP will inundate the community with information to increase the awareness of these new methods of use, educating community leaders, parents, and youth of the dangers of their use. In addition, continuation and expansion of the WI Wins program is planned, further propelling the message that tobacco products are not to be accessible to our youth. By September 2020, middle school past 30 day use of electronic vapor products will decrease by 1%.
The REACH project will have a positive impact for the entire community of 64,000 individuals through collaboration to improve community health and quality of life, not only for our youth, but for everyone living in Chippewa County. Moreover, because health does not see a county line, anyone who visits our great community will reap the benefits of our continual efforts to improve the substance use issues within our county.