The Arizona Border Alliance-Bisbee DFC - The Arizona Border Alliance (ABA), through the ABA Cochise County Coalition, seeks to strengthen and expand evidence-informed, community-driven youth substance use prevention efforts in ZIP Code 85603, which includes the interconnected rural border communities of Bisbee, Warren, and Naco, Arizona. These communities face shared risk factors related to youth substance use, including limited behavioral health infrastructure, transportation barriers, economic instability, rural isolation, and regional fentanyl, opioid, and methamphetamine availability. Building on a comprehensive community needs assessment and an already fully constituted coalition representing all required Drug-Free Communities (DFC) sectors, ABA will implement culturally responsive, bilingual prevention strategies grounded in the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework and aligned with the DFC Seven Strategies. The project will focus on reducing youth substance use risk and strengthening cross-sector collaboration through school-based and community prevention education, youth leadership and engagement, parent and caregiver training, public awareness campaigns, strengthened referral pathways, and coordinated coalition infrastructure. The coalition will serve at least 100 youth and 100 parents or caregivers annually with prevention programming while increasing active participation across at least 10 of the 12 DFC sectors. A mixed-methods evaluation plan will guide implementation and continuous improvement, utilizing pre- and post-assessments, coalition performance tracking, community feedback, and biennial DFC Core Measures administered through the Arizona Youth Survey. ABA will engage two external evaluators, one quantitative and one qualitative, to ensure methodological rigor and independent assessment. Findings will be used to refine strategies, strengthen partnerships, and build sustainable prevention capacity across Bisbee, Warren, and Naco.
