Office of National Drug Control Policy Awards $125,000 to Local Coalition to Prevent Youth Substance Use in Roanoke County
(Washington, D.C.) – Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced $7.9 million in new Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) grants to 60 communities and 6 new DFC Mentoring grants across the country last month. The awards announced are in addition to the nearly $76.7 million in Continuation grants simultaneously released to 608 currently funded DFC coalitions and 18 DFC Mentoring Continuation coalitions. Prevention Council of Roanoke County, under the fiscal agent Family Service of Roanoke Valley, was one of the grant recipients, and will receive $125,000 in DFC grant funds to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
The DFC Program provides grants of up to $625,000 over 5 years to community coalitions that facilitate citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. Coalitions are composed of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, the media, and others working together at the local level. Prevention Council of Roanoke County is entering its tenth and final year of funding through the DFC Program. In 2010, the Council was awarded the national Got Outcomes! Award for its success in lowering the underage drinking rate among County youth (2002 – 2010).
“America’s success in the 21st century depends in part on our ability to help young people make decisions that will keep them healthy and safe,” said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy. “We congratulate this coalition on its work to raise a generation of young people equipped to remain drug free and ready to prosper in school, in their communities, and in the workplace. While law enforcement efforts will always serve a vital role in keeping our communities safe, we know that stopping drug use before it ever begins is always the smartest and most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences.”
“In Roanoke County, we know that we have to work together to have a healthy community. We are extremely fortunate to collaborate with all of our partners, including Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, Roanoke County Schools, and Family Service of Roanoke Valley.” Council Director, Nancy Hans. “Funding from the Drug-Free Communities Support Program ensures that we can save young people’s lives.”
“The driving forces of substance abuse prevention are the local community prevention and treatment programs that engage youth and their families in every facet of their lives – home, school, places of worship, health care settings, playgrounds, and community centers,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “SAMHSA is pleased to work with the Office of National Drug Control Policy to support community coalitions, which effectively bring people together from all parts of the community, to develop innovative ways of creating healthy and drug-free environments for our young people.”
Prevention Council of Roanoke County will continue to address the issue of underage drinking, in addition to other high risk behaviors such as bullying, teen depression, and other substance abuse behaviors.
The DFC Program was created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, and reauthorized by Congress in 2001 and 2006. Since 1998, ONDCP has awarded more than 2,000 Drug-Free Communities grants to local communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Palau, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
In April, President Obama released the 2012 National Drug Control Strategy, the Administration’s primary blueprint for drug policy in the United States. The new Strategy promotes a “third way” approach to drug policy that supports alternatives to a law-enforcement-centric “war on drugs” or drug legalization. The Strategy also outlines specific actions to be undertaken by the Federal Government to reform U.S. drug policy through innovative and evidence-based public health and safety approaches, which include expanding access to drug treatment and recovery support programs, breaking the cycle of drug use, crime, and incarceration, and supporting youth outreach programs that prevent drug use before it begins.
The rate of overall drug use in the United States has declined by roughly 30 percent since 1979. To build on this progress and support public health approaches to drug control, the Obama Administration has requested over $10 billion in FY 2013 for drug prevention programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for people suffering from substance use disorders. This will build upon the $30 billion already spent over the past 3 years on drug use prevention and treatment.
For more information about the Office of National Drug Control Policy or the Drug Free Communities Support Program, visit: www.WhiteHouse.gov/ONDCP
For more information about the Prevention Council of Roanoke County, please contact Nancy Hans, Director at nhans@pc4y.org.
Submitted by Brittany Sandidge, SPF SIG Coordinator, Prevention Council of Roanoke County
October 12, 2012 - 11:00 AM
This “third way” drug policy is a no-brainer and is way past overdue in this area. The drug rate may seem to be going down, but the last numbers that came out are very skewed. The drug rate in our high schools is greater than 36%, especially when you add in the prescription drugs that are being abused by children. Breaking the cycle of use and expanding access to drug treatment and recovery support programs is a good start. Maybe people will take their heads out of the sand and take advantage of it before it is too late.