News : Iowa Department of Public Health Announces Funding for Benton

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced the awarding of over $130,000 per year for 3 years to support underage drinking and binge drinking prevention in Benton, Clinton, Jackson and Jones Counties. This funding is part of a 5 year Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) IDPH received from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration which began last year, funding over $2 million per year in prevention efforts across the state. The Area Substance Abuse Council will be the sub-recipient of these funds from IDPH, and will work with local coalitions and key stakeholders in each community to develop a plan for the project.

The counties selected for SPF SIG funding were identified based on a highest need model. Highest need counties were identified based on the following data, directly related to the two selected Iowa SPF SIG priorities:

• adult binge drinking prevalence from the combined BRFSS

• 11th grade 30 day alcohol use prevalence from the IYS

• adult alcohol offenses conviction rate

• adult OWI convictions

The awarded project will closely collaborate with existing community coalitions to support their efforts to address underage drinking. Existing coalitions may choose to take on adult binge drinking or new task forces may be developed through this funding. The first six months of the project will consist of community assessment, increasing capacity, and developing a plan of action. Coalition activities conducted through this grant will focus on impacting the source of substance abuse problems. Therefore, efforts will include reducing access to substances, modifying policies, improving social attitudes toward the problem behavior and strengthening consequences. These types of activities have been proven by research to have the greatest impact on substance abuse.

The grant will staff a full time staff member in each county to assist the community in moving forward on these issues. The grant will also support costs associated with the implementation of the plan created by the community. Anyone interested in participating in the community coalition efforts are encouraged to go to www.coalitionconnections.com to learn more and sign up.

The mission of the Area Substance Abuse Council (ASAC) Prevention is to proactively change and strengthen attitudes, actions and trends that will ultimately reduce substance abuse by educating and empowering individuals and communities.