Tuesday, May 13, 2025
5/13/2025
Alcohol Attitude Adjustments in the Quaboag Hills - Our STOP Act program will focus on two towns in western Massachusetts, Ware (in Hampshire County) and Palmer (in Hampden County). These two communities have many demographic, economic, and geographic similarities. Former manufacturing and mill towns, they both meet the state's definition of rural communities, with fewer than 500 inhabitants per square mile. Therefore, 100% of the population of focus qualifies as underserved communities. These towns also have higher levels of enrolled students in homes considered low income; the state Department of Education reports that 42% of enrolled students across the state are in homes assessed as low income. Palmer and Ware have higher rates than this, with 65% of Ware students falling into this category. Based on the principles and definitions in White House Executive Order 13985, our proposed geographic area has much more than the required 50% of individuals who belong to underserved communities with persons who live in rural areas and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Our STOP Act program will build on strategic plans that we have developed for over 8 years under our Drug Free Communities (DFC) award, utilizing the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) model. We are well-versed in the SPF and in CADCA’s Seven Strategies for Community Level Change; we will continue to leverage these frameworks and models to affect positive individual and community-level change around preventing underage alcohol use and its impacts. GOAL 1: The proposed STOP Act project will improve community norms regarding alcohol use and increase the number of youth and adult caregivers who perceive intermittent (or “weekend”) drinking as harmful. OBJECTIVE 1: By the end of the project period, September 29, 2028, the percentage of students who report that they perceive episodic/weekend drinking as harmful for someone their age will increase by 5% as measured by the Youth Health Survey conducted every 2 years. OBJECTIVE 2: By the end of the project period, September 29, 2028, the percentage of parents/caregivers who perceive teen alcohol use as a “rite of passage” will decrease by 5% as measured by the Parent/Guardians Survey conducted every 2 years. We will provide parents and youth with accurate and current information about the harmful effects of alcohol on the growing teenage brain. We will also enhance skills through training school employees, partners, and community members as Youth Mental Health First Aiders. With First Aiders and the Drug Addiction Recovery Team (DART) police officers in both towns, we will change consequences for youth on episodic alcohol use and enhance connections to resources for underlying risk factors, such as youth and family mental health needs. GOAL 2: The second goal is to work with policy-makers in Palmer and Ware to further reduce youth access to alcohol in the community and to increase the awareness and capacity of alcohol vendors to avoid underage sales. These policies will be enacted and enforced by local officials including Town Councils, Select Boards (rural, small-town equivalent of a City Council) and law enforcement. Working with the Massachusetts Public Health Association and Massachusetts Municipal Association, and local partners, we will affect policy change to further restrict youth’s physical, social, and psychological access to alcohol in Ware and Palmer. OBJECTIVE 1: By the end of the project period, September 29, 2028, there will be requirements for training all employees in TIPS or Mass Pack (for retail liquor store employees) as a condition of renewing an alcohol license in Palmer and Ware, as measured by enacted and codified regulations for each town. OBJECTIVE 2: By the end of the project period, September 29, 2028, at least one town will adopt policies that prohibit or significantly restrict the availability of alcohol at town-sponsored, family-friendly events as measured by codified regulations for the town.
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).