Parent And Caregiver Engagement (PACE) Project 2 - PACE (Parent and Caregiver Engagement), a project proposed by the Strategic Planning Initiative for Families and Youth (SPIFFY) Coalition, aims to prevent alcohol use and related harms among 12-20 year old youth by engaging and educating parents/caregivers across our largely (80%) rural geographic catchment area, Hampshire County, MA. The population of focus is Hampshire County, MA youth ages 12-20; 79% are white, 4% Asian, 7% Black, 11% Latino, 2% American Indian/Alaska Native, and 1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (percentages add to more than 100% because youth could select more than one option). Roughly 45% are boys, 47% are girls, and 71% are straight. The majority of the county (80%) is rural (MA State Office of Rural Health, 2025), median household income is $79,969, and 12% of households live below the poverty line (US Census Bureau, 2023). 37% of Hampshire County residents experience food insecurity (Greater Boston Food Bank, 2024) and 18,104 residents receive SNAP benefits (Federal Reserve Economic Data, 2022). Since 1995, SPIFFY has engaged with countless stakeholders to create local partnerships to prevent youth substance use. However, parent/caregiver engagement remains a persistent challenge for our coalition, and has been amplified post-pandemic. Given the critical role parents and caregivers play in shaping youth alcohol use, coupled with concerning rates of both adult and youth use in our region, this area for growth in our coalition work must be addressed immediately. PACE will do just that. PACE will help SPIFFY accomplish the proposed project goals by convening a Parent/Caregiver Subcommittee with a goal of partnering with 15-20 parents/caregivers to engage in data-driven, evidence-based discussions related to parent engagement and education that will drive down youth alcohol use rates locally. Based on these, the subcommittee will select strategies to increase lasting parent/caregiver partnerships and create a comprehensive education campaign to increase parent knowledge, perceptions of harm and disapproval, efficacy for having conversations with youth, and awareness of the benefits of modeling healthy use; and decrease permissive attitudes and behaviors. Throughout implementation, we will continuously evaluate progress and make adjustments. Our primary evaluation tools will be an annual parent/caregiver survey and biannual youth surveillance survey, but we will also plan to conduct qualitative research, such as focus groups. We anticipate serving 2,000 parents/caregivers (and likewise, 12-20 year old youth) annually, or 8,000 throughout the duration of PACE based on our recent parent work. By engaging and educating parents and caregivers - and using fact-based information to dispel myths and change hearts and minds – our endgame is to decrease 12-20 year olds' access to alcohol via parents and family by 10%; decrease the percentage of youth who report using with parent permission by10%; increase their risk perceptions related to alcohol by 5%, decrease past 30 day use rates by 5%, and decrease rates of driving under the influence by 5%.
