DRUG FREE COALITION SETS ITS GOALS

FRISCO - A group of concerned citizens armed with a $300,000 grant and a
mission to cut underage drinking and illegal drug use in Summit County is
ready to get to work on solutions.

Since May, about 30 members of the Summit County Drug-Free Community
Coalition have met to talk about how to reduce drinking and illegal drug
use. Now they're showing progress.

"We've been doing a lot of process work, and people sometimes think that's
tedious, but (Tuesday) we saw that people are ready to get to work," said
Daphne Schroth, director of Summit County human services. "The real meat of
our coalition is beginning now," she said. "We have good data and a sense
of our needs. Now it's time to get started."

The coalition began with a steering committee last March and held its first
public meeting in May.

Its main goal is to reduce substance abuse through mentoring programs and
social norm campaigns as well as creating the coalition. Research shows
coalitions reduce substance abuse in communities, Schroth said.

The federal government gave the grant to Summit County because the county's
incidences of youth drug and alcohol use are higher than the national norm,
according to the Colorado Youth Survey.

The grant gives the coalition $300,000 a year for three years and is in the
beginning of its second year for funding.

The coalition met for two hours Tuesday morning to identify the main goals
and outcomes of six priorities or focus areas. Small groups came up with
the following preliminary goals:

- -- Informing policy makers about substance abuse issues so they can create
policies to support healthy kids;

- -- Educating and supporting parents through groups as well as finding out
what parents need most;

- -- Teaching kids and parents about substance abuse, possibly through groups;

- -- Offering alternative activities that teens plan to change perceptions
and attitudes related to substance abuse;

- -- Coming together as a community to implement consistent consequences for
underage drinking and illegal drug use; and

- -- Finding ways to evaluate and measure the coalition's success.

The coalition is still looking for volunteers, particularly from members of
the business community, media, religious or fraternal organizations and
civic of volunteer groups.

Summit Prevention Alliance coordinates the coalition.