Saturday, December 21, 2024
12/21/2024
Since 2013, the PEER Coalition has built out a diverse community coalition to prevent and reduce youth substance use. Understanding the nature and scope of the current problem, PEER Coalition has identified alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs as the priority substances to be addressed using DFC Support Program funding. Students enrolled in East Ramapo schools are at risk for abuse/misuse of these substances based on recent survey data, the status of local risk and protective factors, and local conditions including an oppressive school environment. The largest school district in the county, East Ramapo student enrollment is 96% minority. PEER Coalition addresses youth substance use with compassion, proficiency, and equity. It uses compassion to foster trust among the various populations in the community. It uses proficiency to measure, evaluate, and improve project performance. It uses equity to network with community leaders in all 12 sectors and to engage and recruit youth members who are representative of their student body. PEER has adopted the seven strategies that can bring about community change as a framework for our approach to strategy development, with each strategy representing a key element to build and maintain a healthy community. When focusing on the actual implementation of environmental strategies and the development of our 12-month Action Plan, we focus our efforts to consider the types of information provided, enhancing skills, providing support, changing consequences, and advocating for changes in policies and procedures to move interventions forward. Relative to DFC Goal 1, PEER will measure increases in the size of the Coalition as well as increases in its activity in the community and its diversity. It will challenge and equip members to increase outreach to relevant sectors of the community to address youth substance use among marginalized minority populations. Relative to DFC Goal 2, the Coalition will evaluate program impact on the following measures: • Reduce alcohol sales through the advocacy and/or implementation of policy change initiatives • Educate parents, the community and schools on the effects of alcohol, marijuana, and prescription opioids use • Maintain or reduce further the historically low past 30-day alcohol use • Maintain or reduce further the historically low past 30-day marijuana use • Maintain or reduce further the historically low past 30-day prescription opioid use Implementing its environmental policy initiatives, PSA campaigns, forums, and compliance checks, PEER expects to reduce factors in the community that increase the risk of substance use and decrease the ease, ability, and opportunity for youth to access substances. Most importantly, the Coalition will lead the community in educating parents and youth on the dangers of substance use and medication security, engage students in Project Sticker Shock, challenge parents and youth through Social Norming campaigns, and implement other strategies to sharpen and clarify students’ perceptions regarding substance use, parental disapproval, and peer disapproval. Via these activities, PEER expects to increase the promotion of factors that minimize the risk of substance use. PEER Coalition uses a CDC-approved DMP and has the organizational capacity to manage the DFC program, track revenue and expenses with precision, and evaluate program performance.
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).