Tuesday, April 29, 2025
4/29/2025
Drug Free Communities Support Program - Through the CPACS DFC Program, the Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS) and the Georgia Team Empowerment (GATE) Coalition will deliver community-driven approaches against youth substance use and its associated issues, focusing on the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) and the Latino/Hispanic communities in the cities of Chamblee and Doraville of Dekalb County. Employed strategies are built upon the Strategic Prevention Framework and identified local conditions as measured by a needs assessment. The purpose is to unite and empower the youth and influential adults of targeted populations to combat drug use and promote safety and excellence. With the DFC funds, the GATE coalition will achieve 1) collaboration between various private and public sectors and 2) address community issues in terms of access, knowledge, and culture regarding youth substance use. Dekalb County is one of the top ten counties with a high and growing representation of API and Latino/Hispanic individuals, and both communities exhibit incredible diversity culturally and linguistically. The City of Doraville has a total population of 10,526, according to the US Census. Of that, 55% and 15.1% are Latino/Hispanic and Asian descents, respectively. 47.1% of Doraville's total population is foreign-born and 68.4% of the residents speak languages other than English. Chamblee, with a total population of 29,428, has similar demographics: 38.2% of the total population identified as Latino and Hispanic, whereas 8.2% identified as Asian. 34.1% of Chamblee residents are foreign-born, and 48.8% of the total individuals speak languages other than English. Although local businesses are mostly minority-owned, both cities experience a high level of poverty: Doraville has 18.7%, and Chamblee has 21.4%. Youth made up, on average, a quarter of the population in both cities. 29.5% of Doraville and 23.7% of Chamblee are under the age of 18. Male to female ratios are roughly balanced, as well. 46% and 43% of Doraville and Chamblee identified as “female”, respectively. Immigrants face unique risk factors related to the migration experience, which can lead to destructive behaviors such as substance use. For the youth, acculturation issues exacerbate the usual parent/child conflicts since the cultural gap between the two generations widened. In addition to cultural barriers, socio-economic and language barriers raise more obstacles for these students, making academic excellence challenging to achieve. For instance, more than 70% of students at our target schools are considered “economically-disadvantaged,” according to the Georgia Department of Education. These prevalent issues are often misunderstood or denied by mainstream providers in healthcare, justice systems, law enforcement, and prevention programming. They demonstrate how ill-equipped these programs are to them due to cultural and language barriers. As a result, combined with the lack of disaggregated data of alcohol and tobacco consumption within these two minority groups, the vulnerability of API and Latino youth to this pertinent issue is often downplayed or ignored. The Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS) is requesting $125,000 to implement Year 6 of the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant. CPACS seeks to expand access to alcohol and nicotine-use prevention programs to eligible children and families who are economically and linguistically isolated in Dekalb County. With our cultural expertise, GATE and CPACS are confident in serving as agents of change to successfully mobilize the API and Latino communities toward the vision of safety and elimination of youth substance use.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).