Today, United States Congressman Richard E. Neal, in collaboration with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced 150 nationwide grants for its Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program. Five of those grants were for communities in the First Congressional District of Massachusetts that amount to $625,000. The DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use. Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and employ a variety of environmental strategies to address local substance use problems.
• Stop Access Drug Free Communities Coalition from Springfield will receive $125,000 in DFC grant funds to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
• Hampden-Wilbraham Partners for Youth Coalition from Hampden and Wilbraham will receive $125,000 in DFC grant funds to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
• Healthy Youth Coalition from Easthampton will receive $125,000 in DFC grant funds to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
• West Springfield Collaborative Accountability Reaches Everyone (CARE) Coalition will receive $125,000 in DFC continuation grant funds to continue to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
• Coalition of Longmeadow for a Drug Free Community will receive $125,000 in DFC continuation grant funds to continue to involve and engage their local community to prevent substance use among youth.
“Our goal is to make every community a safe and drug-free place for our youth,” said Congressman Neal. “Prevention is a powerful tool to counteract drug use in our community, and these coalitions will use this funding to help youth in West Springfield, Longmeadow, Springfield, Hampden, Wilbraham, and Easthampton make healthy choices about substance use.”
“In order to create safe and healthy places for the next generation to grow up, we must break through to our children now and educate them about the dangers of substance use. The Drug-Free Communities, administered by our office across the United States, are proven prevention programs tailored to do just that by meeting the local prevention needs in each community. The Trump Administration will continue expanding the number of community-based coalitions dedicated to the critical mission of stopping substance use among our youth before it starts,” ONDCP Director Jim Carroll said.
In June, ONDCP released the 2018 Executive Summary and End-of-Year Report for its DFC grant recipients, which continue to yield consistently reduced youth substances use rates.
Background on the Drug-Free Communities Support Program
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth substance use. Directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use.
The DFC Program provides grants of up to $625,000 over five years to community coalitions that facilitate youth and adult participation at the community level in local youth drug use prevention efforts.
Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and employ a variety of environmental strategies to address local drug problems. Coalitions are comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, healthcare and business professionals, law enforcement, and media. By involving the community in a solution-oriented approach, DFC also helps those youth at risk for substance use recognize that the majority of our Nation’s youth choose not to use drugs.
DFC-funded community coalitions continue to make progress toward achieving the goal of preventing and reducing youth substance use. In June, ONDCP released the 2018 Executive Summary and End-of-Year Report for its DFC grant recipients, which continue to yield consistently reduced youth substances use rates.
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