A grant to help substance abuse among youth
By Paul Hall on Wednesday, July 7th, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Information provided by Union County Safe Communities Coalition) On Wednesday, June 30, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced 65 new and competing continuation grants for Community-Based Coalition Enhancement Grants to Address Local Drug Crisis (CARA) Program. The funding will enhance the efforts of current or former Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program recipients to prevent opioid, methamphetamine, and prescription drug use among youth ages 12-18 across the United States.
Union County Safe Communities Coalition from La Grande, Oregon was one of the grant recipients and will receive $50,000 every year for five years, in CARA grant funds to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
The CARA grant program is a partnership between ONDCP and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It aims to reduce youth substance use by providing funding to local coalitions to help them apply evidence-based prevention strategies to the emerging challenges in their communities.
“We know that delaying substance use until after adolescence decreases the likelihood of a person developing a substance use disorder,” said ONDCP Acting Director Regina Labelle. “It is also important that we consider social determinants of health such as poverty, homelessness, and other conditions as we build effective prevention strategies. This funding will help support the Biden-Harris Administration’s mission to expand evidence-based prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services by providing our local partners in La Grande, Oregon with the resources they need to reduce youth substance use.”
“Preventing youth substance will help keep our communities safe,” said Marce Martin, Coalition Coordinator. “This CARA grant from the White House will help provide our local coalitions with the tools they need to apply the evidence-based prevention strategies we know will result in healthier outcomes for our youth population.”
Supporting evidence-based prevention efforts to reduce youth substance use is one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Drug Policy Priorities for Year One, which also include: expanding access to evidence-based treatment; advancing racial equity in our approach to drug policy; enhancing evidence-based harm reduction efforts; reducing the supply of illicit substances; advancing recovery-ready workplaces and expanding the addiction workforce; and expanding access to recovery support services.
Background on the Community-Based Coalition Enhancement Grants to Address Local Drug Crisis Program
The purpose of this federal grant program is to enhance the efforts of current or former Drug-Free Communities (DFC) recipients to prevent opioid, methamphetamine, and/or prescription drug use among youth ages 12-18 in communities throughout the United States. This program also seeks to change the culture and context regarding the acceptability of youth use and misuse of these substances.
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy | WhiteHouse.gov/ONDCP | @ONDCP
More on Union County Safe Communities Coalition…
The UCSCC is made up of 12 diverse sectors framed by the Drug Free Communities Grant (DFC) which was first awarded to the coalition in 2011 and will end in September 2021 or September 2022 with the possibility of a 1 year extension. The CARA grant is an enhancement grant to the DFC. The main goal of the CARA grant is to prevent youth opioid, methamphetamine, and or prescription drug use among youth by engaging with diverse sectors within the community. This expansion of the CARA has begun new collaborations with Center for Human Development MAT program, Oregon HIDTA, OSU’s Community Health Coast to Forest Program and building stronger relationships with NEON, Union county Juvenile Department, and CHD prevention and behavioral health programs.
The Coalition applied for the grant because of growing rates of opioid use. Compared nationally to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System rate of 7.1% 9th grade use, Union County 8th graders use of prescription drugs without a doctor’s consent was at 8.4% measured by the 2019 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey. Thankfully the county doesn’t have a youth methamphetamine problem and the main focus will be opioids, prescription drugs, and we added counterfeit pills which has been plaguing Oregon with overdoses. The survey also showed that 23.1% of 8thgraders reported that that it would be very easy to get prescription drugs not prescribed to them. Another concerning statistic from the OHT2019 survey showed that since 2015, 8th grade depressive symptoms and suicide attempts have been increasing. As a prevention coalition we are looking at the risk factors of use, this includes the perception of harm, accessibility, and awareness. One of our strategies will be to build protective factors which are conditions of the environment and behaviors that can reduce the effects of stressful life events. This can include family support and engagement as well as school connectedness.
The coalition has some incredible members and partners who have helped sustain its mission. We have strong support from the school districts, the hospital, local businesses, youth serving organizations, faith organizations, parents, county and city government, city police, and the sheriff’s department. We have representation from county commissioners and city mayors. Our local media outlets has been a large asset in helping us get messaging out and supporting events. We look forward to engaging more with the community.
