RVPC PROPOSES DRUG-FREE COMMUNITIES GRANT

River Valley Would Receive Up To $125,000 For Potentially 10 Years

The River Valley Prevention Coalition (RVPC) approved a proposal for
a drug-free communities grant at its meeting Tuesday.

Project director Patti Butler said by receiving this grant, the
coalition would attempt to establish and strengthen its connection
with communities, private nonprofit agencies and federal, state,
local and tribal governments in order to prevent and reduce substance
abuse among youth.

The coalition's second goal is to reduce substance abuse among youth
and, over time, among adults by addressing the factors in Pope County
that increase the risk. If granted, up to $125,000 per year could be
awarded, with a 100 percent in-kind match from members of a committee
made up of 12 different sectors of the community; businesses,
youth-serving organizations, law enforcement agencies and healthcare
professionals to name a few.

Butler explained many contributions members of the grant committee
could make throughout the year in order to easily achieve their
$125,000 in-kind match, such as providing safety training, going to
committee meetings or providing a training room or meeting space.

"There are a variety of different things that can be done," she said.
"If each of the professionals in the group would volunteer one time a
year to do a training or some kind of volunteer work, that $125,000
will come quickly."

She said the coalition applied for the grant in 2006 but was not
fully prepared because the plan it submitted did not match the needs
of the community.

"We have been working really hard to match our community needs to our
goals for this grant," Butler said. "We've heard through the
grapevine from different sources that we really need to write for it.
We are ready."

In order to reach its first goal, she said the coalition has already
been doing an excellent job the last two years of hosting activities
which involve the entire community in order to diversify the
coalition, such as its upcoming event in April, Party in the Park, a
community gathering with food and activities.

In order to narrow the spectrum when considering "substance abuse,"
Butler said the coalition would be focusing on the three drugs it
considers most widely abused by youth in Pope County; alcohol,
cannabis and stimulants.

Although meth is grouped under stimulants, she said the coalition is
primarily focused on the growing abuse of prescription and
over-the-counter drugs by local youth. Butler provided a logic model
for each of the three drugs, showing a problem statement and proposed
strategies, activities and outcomes.

Some of the results the coalition is hoping to achieve are youth
curfew enforcement; early intervention, targeting children as young
as preschool age; parent and youth education through Web sites,
training and other mediums; and increased prosecution of those
illegally providing or abusing drugs.

Along with the large amount of activities and programs the grant
money will allow for, the coalition will also be able to hire a
community intervention specialist to take on the responsibility of
coordinating the project and maintaining statistical data in order to
track progress.

Although there was some discussion as to the exact job description,
the majority of the coalition was in agreement the community
intervention specialist would have his or her hands full overseeing
the entire project, which includes the five school districts which
make up Pope County.

"Finding the right person is going to be key," Butler said.

The due date for the grant application is March 21, and Butler said
the coalition should know if they have received the grant by late
summer so the project can begin by the 2008-09 school year.