Friday, December 27, 2024
12/27/2024
Summary: SCAN, Inc. will implement the Laredo Drug Prevention Alliance (LDPA) to reduce the onset and progression of substance use/misuse among youth and adults with a priority focus on underage drinking, underage vaping, and marijuana use as well as a secondary focus on preventing underage tobacco cigarette use and preventing opioid overdose in Laredo, Webb County, Texas. Grant funds will help enhance and expand the community's ability to develop and deliver data-driven and evidence-based and informed prevention practices to prevent substance misuse and provide mental health promotion services by utilizing the Strategic Prevention Framework to build local capacity and decrease risk factors. Project Name: Laredo Drug Prevention Alliance (LDPA). Population to be Served: Latino/Hispanic youth and adults attending public elementary, middle, and high schools and institutions of higher education and adults in the community. Statement of the Problem: Individuals in Webb County are continuously exposed to numerous factors that place them at high-risk for alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) use. State and local data have consistently demonstrated that Webb Co. has had a significant problem concerning ATOD use/misuse among youth and adults, and a scarcity of providers and funding for social services. Historically, adolescents and young adults have had significant problems with underage alcohol and tobacco use and marijuana use. Recently, the number of adolescents and young adults under 21 using vaping products has become extremely problematic. Moreover, adults in the community have historically had significant problems with alcohol and marijuana use as well as opioid use. Finally, similar to many parts of the country, Webb Co. has experienced a significant increase in opioid overdoses in the past few years. Project Goals & Objectives: The primary project goals are to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance use/misuse (i.e., underage drinking, vaping, and tobacco cigarette use, marijuana use), reduce opioid overdose, and promote mental health and well-being among youth and adults. Other goals include creating a needs assessment, engaging in capacity building, developing a strategic and implementation plan, delivering evidence-based prevention services, and evaluating the project. Primary objectives include: fostering community changes to prevent and reduce ATOD use with a special focus on parent/caregivers that provide alcohol, tobacco, and vaping products to minors; enforcing laws prohibiting underage alcohol, tobacco, and vaping product use including sting operations; encouraging responsible advertising/promotion practices by retailers; engaging all social systems that interact with youth (especially parents and caregivers), schools, colleges and universities, and health care providers to achieve a more comprehensive and coordinated drug prevention effort; providing CSAP's Six Prevention Strategies with a special emphasis on evidence-based/informed drug prevention curriculums for universal, selective, and indicated populations; and collecting youth and adult ATOD consumption data and risk and protective factors data associated with use of these substances. Strategies/Interventions: The project will recruit and retain adult and youth advisory board members; conduct regular board meetings; update a community needs assessment annually; develop a strategic and implementation plan to address identified substance use problems; engage in the ongoing collection of ATOD data; implement evidence-based and informed drug use/misuse prevention strategies; and monitor/evaluate the project in an ongoing manner. Number Served: 10,000 unduplicated youth and adults (2,000 participants annually) will receive "direct" prevention services. Media awareness, information dissemination, and environmental strategies will reach at least 60% of the population (160,000 persons annually).
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).