Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Thank you for your support, DFC Grant not received, but youth substance abuse prevention work will continue :)

Dear GeorgetownCARES Sector Members, On behalf of the GeorgetownCARES community coalition, I would like to thank you all for agreeing to participate as an active coalition member in a Drug Free Community (DFC) Sector capacity. DFC Grants are awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. The 2014 awards have been announced, and sadly, GeorgetownCARES was NOT among the (only) three community coalitions across the country offered a grant. Thanks to the caring support of so many in Georgetown, however, the work of the GeorgetownCARES coalition will continue in a similar manner as before, with the twin goals of building protective factors for youth and reducing the risk factors that lead to risky behavior choices. The stated purpose of the grant was to increase community readiness to address youth substance use problems. In fact I want to recognize that already many groups and individuals in our small, caring, family-friendly town step up every day to support our youth in making healthy choices and decisions. We are particularly appreciative of the Georgetown School District for agreeing to administer, analyze, and develop a responsive prevention plan to the 2014 Search Institute’s Attitudes & Behavior Survey for GMHS students this fall. Also, our highly trained and professional Police & Fire Departments do an incredible job keeping our community safe in their responses to the substance-abuse related situations our youth find themselves in. We also thank the Georgetown Record for their practice of printing educational prevention articles for parents. GeorgetownCARES would like to continue partnering with you all to provide parents with information and support on how to keep teens safe from alcohol and other drugs. We will also keep working hand in hand with the Georgetown Wellness Committee, to provide a safe and supportive school environment for all of our youth. If any of you have ideas about how GeorgetownCARES could help promote or be a part of any educational youth activities involving substance abuse prevention, please do contact us. Again, thank you very much for your willingness to participate in this SAMSHA program, and wishing you all success in your endeavors to support Georgetown youth. Very Best Regards, Pam Lundquist, GeorgetownCARES http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/drug-free-communities-support-program http://beta.samhsa.gov/grants