Programs and Grants
Underage Drinking
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration alcohol is the most widely misused substance among America’s youth. Consumption of alcohol by anyone under the age of 21, also known as underage drinking, remains a considerable public health challenge. Adolescent alcohol use is not an acceptable rite of passage, but a serious threat to adolescent development and health. Prevention of underage drinking is aimed at reducing a young person’s risk of using alcohol or increasing factors that help protect them against alcohol use. SAMHSA’s underage drinking prevention campaign—“Talk. They Hear You.”—helps parents and caregivers start talking to their children early—as early as 9 years old—about the dangers of alcohol.
Prescription Drug Misuse
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration prescription drug misuse and abuse is the intentional or unintentional use of medication without a prescription, in a way other than prescribed, or for the experience or feeling it causes. This issue is a growing national problem in the United States. Prescription drugs are misused and abused more often than any other drug, except marijuana and alcohol. This growth is fueled by misperceptions about prescription drug safety, and increasing availability. A 2011 analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that opioid analgesic (pain reliever) sales increased nearly four-fold between 1999 and 2010; this was paralleled by an almost four-fold increase in opioid (narcotic pain medication) overdose deaths and substance abuse treatment admissions almost six times the rate during the same time period.
Partnership for Success Grant
The Genesee County Prevention Coalition was awarded the Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnership For Success Grant 2015-2020 through Region 10 and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Recovery Oriented Systems of Care. The purpose of this grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is to address two of the nation’s top substance abuse prevention priorities: 1) underage drinking among persons aged 12 to 20; and 2) prescription drug misuse among persons aged 12 to 25. The SPF-PFS grant program is intended to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance misuse and its related problems while strengthening prevention capacity and infrastructure at the state, tribal, and community levels.
Drug Free Communities Mentoring Grant
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program was created by the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-20). DFC Mentoring grants were established as a component of the DFC Support Program when the program was reauthorized in 2001 (Public Law 107-82, 115 Stat. 814). The DFC Mentoring Program was also included in the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-469).
The Genesee County Prevention Coalition (mentee) in partnership with the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities (mentor) will receive support and technical assistance through a 2-year Drug Free Communities Mentoring grant. The primary goal of the DFC Mentoring Program is to assist newly forming coalitions in becoming eligible to apply for DFC funding on their own.
It is the intent of the DFC Mentoring Program that, at the end of the Mentoring grant, each Mentee coalition will meet all of the Statutory Eligibility Requirements of the DFC Support Program and be fully prepared to compete for the DFC grant on their own. Grantees will be expected to achieve this goal by meeting the following objectives:
- Strengthen Mentee coalition’s organizational structure.
- Increase Mentee coalition’s leadership and community readiness to address youth substance use problems in the Mentee community.
- Assist the Mentee coalition in working through a strategic planning process that will result in a comprehensive Action Plan.
