Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
The project to be funded is “The Partnership”, a community-based coalition based in Norwalk, CT which convenes several facets of the Norwalk community to utilize the proven prevention strategies outlined in the Strategic Prevention Framework. The work of the coalition will be at a community level and it is intended to serve the entire community, consisting of over 87,000 individuals. These strategies are aimed at reducing substance misuse among young people and young adults in the Norwalk community, supporting families, and working to provide resources to improve the health and safety of Norwalk youth. Norwalk is the sixth largest city in Connecticut with a total population of 87,214 individuals (35,450 households). Approximately 56% of its residents are Caucasian, while 22% are Hispanic, 15% are African American, 5% are Asian and 6% are multi-race/other. The Norwalk Public Schools has over 11,000 students in twelve elementary schools, four middle schools and three high schools, with an additional 6,700 students attending the private school system. Though Norwalk is at the heart of Fairfield County, one of America’s wealthiest counties, it struggles with the same academic, socio-economic and financial challenges of Connecticut’s larger urban areas. For example, its 4-year graduation rate is lower than the state average (83% vs. 87%) and both its poverty rate and the number of public housing sites located within its borders are significantly higher than all of its neighboring towns. The Partnership has identified two main priorities and will utilize the seven strategies for community level change to achieve those goals. The two goals of The Partnership are to 1) Increase community collaboration and 2) Reduce youth substance abuse. The Partnership intends to achieve these goals through disseminating information about the identified substances of alcohol and marijuana, enhancing skills of coalition members and other community partners through workshops and trainings, reducing access and enhancing barriers to substances through enforcement strategies, enhancing access and reducing barriers to translation services for families who speak a language other than English, encouraging advocating and changing consequences through policy change, impacting change on physical design of access by strategic signage, and providing ongoing support for youth who are working on their personal recovery. The Partnership will measure its success on four key objectives, including: 1) Increase The Partnership’s membership by 14% from 14 to 16 as measured by Partnership Member Forms, by 10/30/2020; 2) Increase The Partnership’s youth membership by 50% from 2 to 4, as measured by Youth Committee Member Forms, by 10/30/2020; 3) decrease percentage of Norwalk youth (grades 7-12) that report being at party, in the past year, where other kids their age are drinking alcohol, by 9% from 34% to 31%, by 10/30/2020; 4) and increase perception of harm of marijuana use among youth (grades 7-12) by 5%, from 62% to 65%, as measured by Search Institute’s Student Survey, by 10/30/2020.
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).
