The Maricopa County Urban Indian Coalition of Arizona (UICAZ) is an alliance of concerned and invested stakeholders focusing on the needs of urban American Indian (AI) youth in Maricopa County. Coalition members collaborate to implement individual, community, and environmental prevention strategies to combat local AI youth alcohol and illicit drug abuse. The Phoenix Indian Center (PIC) serves as the fiscal agent of the Maricopa County UICAZ Coalition and helps coordinate the implementation of its strategic plan. All of the Coalition’s efforts to carry out substance abuse prevention employ the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF).
The Phoenix Indian Center was originally established in 1947 and incorporated with the State of Arizona as a private non-profit "501(c)(3)" status in 1954 making it the oldest urban-based nonprofit organization serving the needs of American Indians. Today, the Center is the primary resource of social, economic, educational, leadership, employment, and training opportunities for urban American Indians residing in Maricopa County.
As part of its mission to reduce substance use among American Indian youth, the Coalition is focusing its efforts on reducing the use of alcohol, marijuana, and the abuse of prescription drugs. According to the 2022 Arizona Youth Survey (AYS) alcohol is the highest reported substance used by youth in the past 30-days (13.5%) and in their lifetime (31%). Among AI students in Maricopa County for 2022, 7% of youth reported past 30-day use of alcohol and 18.1% reported lifetime use of alcohol. On the AYS, the age of initiation for alcohol for AI youth in Maricopa County was reported as 13.2 years old. AI youth also reported higher rates of marijuana use on the AYS than their non-Native counterparts. In Maricopa County, for 2022, 11.4% of AI youth reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, compared to 15.7% of all other respondents; 22.2% of AI youth reported using marijuana in their lifetime compared to 29% of all other respondents. Moreover, AI youth in Maricopa reported a younger age of initiation for marijuana use at 12 and 13.4 years compared to 12.2 and 13.7 years for all other youth.
The Phoenix Indian Center Needs Assessment FY2021 suggests that even though prescription drug use is not as high as other substances for American Indian youth, it is concerning that the prescription drug use is rising within the community. In Maricopa County in 2020, the percentage of American Indian students who reported using prescription drugs during their lifetime totaled 13.3% while the percentage of American Indian students who reported having used prescription drugs during the past 30 days totaled 6.9%. When asked about the perception of risk when using substances, AI youth in Arizona responded the following: 58.1% felt there was “no risk” or “slight risk” to using marijuana regularly; 41% felt there was “no risk” or “slight risk” to having 1-2 drinks of alcohol every day. These data indicate that a relatively high percentage of AI youth feel there is little risk in using drugs and alcohol.
The efforts outlined within this project aim to increase community collaboration and reduce youth substance use among American Indian youth. The Coalition will increase active sector representation in the Coalition's five working subcommittees so that at least two individuals from each sector are included on at least one subcommittee. The UICAZ will: teach parents, caregivers, and other adult members of the community effective skills and strategies to prevent youth alcohol use; teach youth ages 9-17 effective skills and strategies to prevent alcohol and marijuana use and prescription drug abuse/use by minors; and create community opportunities to decrease the ease, ability, and opportunity for youth to access prescription drugs at home through the implementation of drug take back initiatives throughout the community for easier disposal of leftover drugs.
