CE26-0208- Dearborn County Prevention Project will address youth alcohol and nicotine use through strengthening community collaboration and implementing a variety of evidence-based prevention programs and policy - The Dearborn County Citizens Against Substance Abuse Coalition (CASA) is applying for the Drug-Free Communities Support Program – Competing Continuation (Year 6) grant in the amount of $125,000. The community served for this grant is Dearborn County, Indiana youth 12-18 years of age. The Dearborn County Prevention Project will serve the entire county, including the rural and under-resourced communities, providing evidence-based prevention efforts with the goals of reducing youth alcohol and nicotine use, while also improving capacity, collaboration, and infrastructure at the community level to enhance the population. The CASA mission statement is to develop and support a comprehensive community plan focused on preventing and reducing substance abuse and addiction among youth and adults in Dearborn County by driving impactful advocacy efforts. The coalition (a 501c3 entity) serves as its own fiscal agent. Dearborn County, with an estimated population of 51,215, is greatly impacted by Substance Use Disorder due to the nature of the county being suburban and rural (as defined in Executive Order 13985 Section 2). According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rural areas have population densities less than 500 people/square mile. Dearborn spans 305 square miles and has 51,215 residents, therefore has a population density of 164 persons/square mile. Dearborn is characterized by a relatively young population, with a median age of 45 years. The county's racial composition is predominantly White (96.9%), with smaller percentages of Hispanic (1.6%), Two or More Races (1.4%), Black (0.9%), Asian (0.5%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.3%), and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (0.1%). Dearborn's median household income is $82,693 and has a poverty rate lower than Indiana (8.1% vs 12.3%). Over 1 in 3 (34.1%) students are eligible for free/reduced lunch. Therefore, a large portion of the community served is impacted by barriers to achieving optimal health and wellbeing leading to gaps due to the rural and poverty-based conditions and these, along with age-specific gaps, creating a need to address the substance use issues with the identified community served. One of the driving reasons for this grant proposal is that current use of substances among Dearborn County youth is higher than the Indiana (IN) state average: 15.17% used alcohol (nearly 2x IN rate: 7.98%), 2.63% used cigarettes (2x IN rate: 1.31%), 8.98% used e-cigarettes (IN: 7.40%), 3.16% used chewing tobacco (3X IN rate: 1.00%), and 1.32% used prescription drugs (IN rate: 0.5%). The project will serve the population of youth ages 12-18 for alcohol and nicotine use. The project objectives include increasing the number of community coalition building strategies and other evidenced-based interventions based on the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) and utilizing all 7 Strategies for Community Change to address both alcohol and nicotine use by minors. Specific strategies and activities include evidence-based substance prevention curricula to youth, a community awareness campaign about the coalition as well as the dangers and consequences of alcohol/nicotine use, healthy alternative activities for youth, compliance check and party patrol operations with law enforcement around the time of key celebrations (prom, graduation etc), providing incentives and education to retailers, strengthening school policies regarding nicotine use on campus, passing a social host ordinance for alcohol, promote and grow their established youth coalition, and coalition member recruitment and engagement to enhance community infrastructure and resources.
