Address underage drinking in people ages 12-20 in three school districts in New Hampshire's Monadnock Region. - Reality Check is a 501c3 nonprofit located in Jaffrey New Hampshire, providing addiction services to residents of the Monadnock Region. Under the current Drug-Free Communities grant, our goals are to increase collaborative partnerships to implement prevention initiatives to 2,155 students in three schools and 14 communities, and to decrease the onset and progression of youth and young adults using drugs and alcohol. Reality Check as a whole, makes services available to all 31 towns in the Monadnock Region, (pop 84,591 US Census, 2022). Under the STOP grant, funds will be used to build capacity to expand and improve the delivery of prevention services for our populations disproportionately impacted by underage drinking. Goal 1: Expand prevention services for people ages 12-20 in three school districts and one college in the Monadnock region to reduce the onset and progression of alcohol use. Objective 1: Of people ages 12-20 participating in prevention services, there will be a 2% decrease of underage people reporting use of alcohol in the last 30 days, and 2% increase in peer disapproval as measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Young Adult Survey. Objective 2: Of districts and colleges participating in prevention services, there will be an increase of 5% of students completing an evidence-based curriculum or other prevention activity each year, starting with serving 50 youth and 20 young adults in Year 1 and increasing participation by 5% each year as measured by engagement surveys. Objective 3: Improve attendance at initiatives for preventing underage drinking including public presentations, trainings, and Town Hall meetings by 3% each year of the grant as measured by attendance tracking logs. Goal 2: Improve agency capacity to provide prevention services by increasing sector partnerships and intergovernmental agency coordination to reduce duplication of efforts. Objective 1: There will be 5% increase in new citizen partners collaborating to reduce underage drinking as shown by the Measure Partnerships for Impact (MPI) Assessment Tool done 2ce annually. Objective 2: Work with CADCA and PTTC to ensure best practices are shared to expand the reach of messages by 5% as measured by community engagement surveys. The catchment area is rural where prevention activities and services are minimal. Most communities are economically challenged and 1 out 3 families here quality for the federal free and reduced lunch program. Culturally ingrained drinking behaviors and underage initiation parties by friends and parents, coupled with a lack of services resources and capacity to address underage drinking, make buy-in for prevention services a challenge. Funds will allow us to expand its strategies to better impact underage drinking in our schools, colleges, and communities. Annual multi-platform media plans will include videos and public service announcements developed collaboratively by the college and high school students; underage drinking prevention curriculum Prime For Life will be implemented in middle and high schools and school staff trained to become facilitators for sustainability; parent groups, toolkits, and parental curriculum will be provided about the negative consequences of alcohol use; and any school resources officers interested will be offered training to support youth showing signs of alcohol use issues, pivoting away from dealing punitively with violations; underage drinking survey results will be disseminated at Town Hall meetings and other community-wide presentations and events to inform future initiatives; and invite school boards and administration to modify policies to be more supportive of students and young adults with alcohol issues, including how to make referrals to treatment.
