Alden Substance Abuse Coalition, Inc. Drug Free Communities Support Program Year 6-10. - The Alden Substance Abuse Coalition (formally known as ASAC, Inc.) was founded in April 2013 by a group of concerned community members who were personally touched by substance abuse. Through capacity building, data collection, and strategic planning, the coalition was awarded federal DFC funding in 2019. The coalition serves Alden, New York (zip code 14004), a 34.5-square-mile town of 9,786 residents that sits at the eastern edge of Erie County, New York. Erie County (population 954,236) is at the western end of New York State, bordered to the west by Lake Erie. The Town of Alden is a mix of rural and suburban geographies that sits at the edge of the Buffalo, New York metropolitan area. Erie County and its neighboring counties to the north and south are federally designated High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA). Over the past five years of DFC funding, the coalition has contributed to community change in Alden. During this time, ASAC has built a coalition roster of 146 members, including 42 youth members. This includes a roster of 20 “key members” who act as coalition and activity leaders. With DFC funds, ASAC has facilitated 106 meetings, implemented nearly 1,050 activities, reached 48,840 adults, and reached 19,725 youth. Through the above activities, ASAC contributed to decreases in youth alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drug use; increases in perception of harm of cigarette and marijuana use; and high, steady rates (~80-90%) of perceived parental and peer disapproval of substance use. In project years 6-10, ASAC proposes to use federal funding to continue and expand coalition efforts. The coalition’s focus population is youth ages 12-18, and the coalition’s objectives in this proposal are to decrease alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use in the focus population. Additionally, the coalition aims to increase perception of harm for the project’s target substances. These coalition efforts are needed now more than ever, especially as New York State’s norms continue to change with legalization and normalization of cannabis use. In addition to youth ages 12-18, ASAC aims to address poverty and healthcare disparities in Alden. ASAC plans to accomplish the proposed objectives – with leadership of a thriving coalition – through the implementation of evidence-based strategies, the use of the Seven Strategies for Community Change and the Strategic Prevention Framework, and alignment with the DFC logic model. The coalition has developed a 12-month action plan that addresses alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. This includes capacity building, especially building capacity in underrepresented community sectors; reduction of social access to target substances; increasing youth perception of harm of using target substances; and increasing both perceived parent and peer disapproval of using target substances. The coalition’s action plan contains evidence-based strategies, including Project Sticker Shock, collaboration with law enforcement to strengthen underage drinking laws, implementation of the American Lung Association’s INDEPTH and No-On-Tobacco (NOT) program, and media campaigns. Success will be measured through qualitative and quantitative evaluations; ASAC will participate in the National Cross-Site Evaluation every 2 years through collection of all required DFC core measures. The coalition will also use primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data sources to evaluate coalition processes and outcomes. This the use of surveys, focus groups, key informant interviews, listening sessions, and more. All data collected through this proposed project will be formalized in an updated data management plan if awarded
