Reducing youth alcohol use in the somerset hills - the proposed project entitled reducing youth alcohol use in the somerset hills will expand community in crisis's (CIC) existing substance use…

Reducing youth alcohol use in the somerset hills - the proposed project entitled reducing youth alcohol use in the somerset hills will expand community in crisis's (CIC) existing substance use prevention efforts to include alcohol-specific activities to prevent and reduce alcohol use among youth ages 12-20 in the somerset hills of new jersey. This project will challenge the established social norms of teen alcohol use by raising awareness of the increasing prevalence of youth nonuse and the negative consequences of underage drinking. This proposal expands the capacity of the parent university parent education series, which has educated over 300 adults on the risks of youth marijuana, nicotine, and opioid use, to deliver youth alcohol use prevention education to parents. This project allows CIC to inform parents of new law enforcement limitations resulting from recent changes in new jersey legislation through a series of videos in conjunction with local law enforcement. CIC's youth leadership council (YLC) has an effective track record promoting nonuse of substances, and this project will allow the YLC to focus on alcohol, the most commonly used substance among youth in the community. YLC's flagship initiative, one clear path: a commitment to myself, a commitment to my health will serve as the umbrella framework for youth prevention programs, and the proposed project will allow, for the first time, the inclusion of youth alcohol use prevention. One clear path will also expand to work with coaches to target student-athletes, who are at higher risk of alcohol use than the general student population. This effort will address the existing social norms of underage alcohol use. This project will also reduce the availability of alcohol to underage youth by implementing programs aims to limit access of alcohol to minors, including the sticker shock program to the somerset hills and developing a media campaign to parents on the dangers of social hosting. This project will allow CIC to increase opportunities for youth to socialize without alcohol by hosting alcohol-free youth events in collaboration with community partners. Finally, this project will build our capacity to serve the young adult population (18-20 year olds) in alcohol use prevention by laying the groundwork to create a young adult version of YLC to address the needs of college-aged youth.