Reducing Underage Alcohol Use in the Somerset Hills - The Community in Crisis (CIC) Reducing Underage Alcohol Use in the Somerset Hills initiative is a comprehensive community-based prevention effort serving youth and young adults ages 12-20 in Bedminster, Bernards Township, Bernardsville, Far Hills, and Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey. The project will reach approximately 5,902 youth and young adults, including 4,565 ages 12–17 and 1,337 ages 18–20. Building on successful prevention efforts that contributed to a decline in local high school alcohol use rates, the initiative brings together schools, parents, youth leaders, community organizations, law enforcement, retailers, and healthcare partners to reduce underage drinking and create healthier environments for young people. Through evidence-based education, community engagement, and environmental prevention strategies, the project seeks to strengthen protective factors, promote healthy decision-making, and reduce youth access to alcohol. The purpose of the project is to prevent and reduce alcohol use among youth and young adults ages 12–20 in the Somerset Hills. The initiative is guided by SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework and focuses on two primary goals: (1) changing social norms that contribute to underage drinking and increasing awareness of the risks associated with alcohol use, and (2) reducing youth access to alcohol while increasing parental monitoring and engagement. To achieve these goals, CIC will implement a comprehensive set of prevention strategies, including interactive engagement stations in schools, classroom and small-group educational programs, social-emotional learning workshops, youth-led social norms and media campaigns, targeted outreach to student athletes, Parent University educational programs, retailer education, Sticker Shock campaigns, social hosting awareness initiatives, Lock Your Stock campaigns, and parent communication campaigns based on SAMHSA’s Talk. They Hear You resources. By September 2030, the project will achieve measurable outcomes including reductions in past 30-day alcohol use among 8th and 12th grade students; increases in youth disapproval of alcohol use and perception of peer disapproval; reductions in adult approval of underage drinking; decreases in perceived ease of obtaining alcohol; increases in parent-child communication about substance use; reductions in community acceptance of social hosting. Progress will be measured through the PRIDE Student Survey, CIC Community Assessment, program participation records, and coalition performance monitoring systems. Through sustained collaboration and community engagement, this initiative will help ensure that Somerset Hills youth have the knowledge, skills, support, and opportunities needed to make healthy choices and avoid the risks associated with underage alcohol use.
