Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act Grants for the Western Navajo Agency Region - Stop: Sober Truth of Preventing Underage Drinking Act program in the Western Navajo Agency region Capacity Builders, Inc., a private not-for-profit agency located in Farmington, NM, proposes to operate this STOP program in the Western Navajo Agency region of northwestern Arizona. The target population is the estimated 6,124 Navajo youths between the ages of 10 and 19 and in a general sense all the estimated 37,310 Navajos living in that region. Youths in this northern region of Arizona in which the Western Navajo Agency is located have high rates of Alcohol Use in the Past Month and the highest Binge Alcohol Use in the Past Month rate, of the five areas studied in Arizona for this age group. In 2021, age sex adjusted death rates for chronic liver disease and cirrhosis for American Indians in Arizona were 6.8 times higher than for all races. Alcohol abuse is a long-standing problem in the area. Capacity building in this community is highly needed due to this long-standing intractable problem and unmet need for culturally significant traditional alcohol prevention programs. The project focuses on eight different required activities and is based on the three key capacity building approaches of implementing evidence-based community programs, enhancing collaboration, cooperation, and coordination among communities, federal, state, local and tribal governments, and convening Town Halls. Key objectives reflective of the focus on culturally significant traditional prevention programs are: selecting and implementing Navajo relevant programs in schools and community organizations, developing and implementing Action Plans with extensive involvement from youth and relevant sectors of the community, enhancing governmental agency coordination between Navajo Chapters – which are the Navajo Nation government jurisdictions similar to small cities or towns, the Navajo Police Department and the Navajo Nation Advisory Council through the development and adoption of policies discouraging drunk driving and providing direct services to youth already at-risk through programs like the “The Horse Journey”, and fostering grass-roots participation at Town Hall meetings at the 18 Western Navajo Agency Chapters. The eight activities include a vast array of information distribution methods and approaches designed to influence positive change such as public service announcements, social media campaigns, seminars and presentations at school and community-based organizations, and direct programming for at-risk youth. Estimates of the number of people reached or served annually and for the four-year period are difficult to quantify. One perspectives suggests that annual and four-year targets of people reached are 25% and 75% respectively for both population based and demographically focused activities and based on the estimated level of success of earlier STOP programs in another Navajo region. The exact number of individuals served directly or indirectly will be measured as a key part of the planning and implementation process and target rates will be adjusted accordingly.
