Northwest Family Services’ (NWFS) proposal for the SPF-PFS-Communities/Tribes grant will expand substance abuse disorder (SUD) and mental health services for youth ages nine to 18 in the Reynolds School District (RSD) and Gresham-Barlow School District (GBSD) in Oregon’s East Multnomah County (EMC). This proposal will reduce youth alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use and strengthen community structures supporting prevention initiatives. NWFS’ proposal, entitled “Empowering East Multnomah County Youth” will serve youth in the geographical area of RSD and GBSD in EMC, which is commonly defined as the cities of Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, and Wood Village, and sometimes includes the neighborhood of Rockwood, in the greater Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. According to the Oregon Department of Education’s (ODE) 2022-2023. NWFS proposal has three major goals, which include: increasing protective factors through implementing evidence-based prevention programs, utilizing the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework to assess the prevention landscape, build the capacity of critical partners, and engage in planning, and evaluate strategies, and promoting mental health literacy through education, outreach, social media campaigns and proliferation of available community resources. NWFS will provide additional programmatic emphasis on providing inclusive services to Latinx and LGBTQIA+ participants. The project is anticipated to serve up to 15,000 people over its lifespan.
Measurable objectives under these goals include: by the end of the 5-year program, NWFS anticipates that 6th, 8th, & 11th grade youth in the service area will demonstrate a 10% reduction in use of marijuana, 20% reduction in use the alcohol, and 20% reduction in nicotine use. Likewise, NWFS anticipates an increase in East Multnomah Youth Substance Prevention Coalition effectiveness self-assessment scores by 40%, as well as developing an enhanced youth coalition. NWFS will provide mental health and suicide prevention education to 80 youth, adults, and school staff, 70% of which will be from underserved communities. NWFS will conduct a resource gap analysis for resources in the community that support youth and families and identify a minimum of two areas to address through advocacy in tandem with the Coalition.
