Stop act project to prevent underage drinking in bergen county, NJ - in its third year of DFC funding, the upper saddle river - allendale (usra) coalition has completed significant accomplishments…

Stop act project to prevent underage drinking in bergen county, NJ - in its third year of DFC funding, the upper saddle river - allendale (usra) coalition has completed significant accomplishments in pursuit of its mission to educate and create awareness in the targeted communities to prevent and reduce substance abuse and other related health issues. The coalition has established an active and influential presence on social media platforms, posting messages and videos on facebook, twitter, instagram, and snapchat with 204,643 social media impressions, and social media videos have been played 157,754 times during the six-month period ending 1/31/2022. The coalition will continue using DFC funds to directly address past 30-day use at every grade level. Analyzing representative student survey data from 2021, IT identified a need to address youth alcohol use by enhancing its efforts focused on perception of risk/harm (especially among 9TH grade students) and perception of peer disapproval across all grade levels. Program goal: strengthen infrastructure development around youth alcohol use. Objective #1: increase citizen participation in coalition activities (including additional parent wellness academy members involved with the coalition) to provide information, enhance skills and competencies, and provide support for alternative activities, as measured by a 10% increase in average monthly attendance by 9/29/2023 (and annually). Objective #2: increase collaboration among all sectors to enhance access to coalition services, increase attention on enforcement and compliance, and inform about modifying school policies or local ordinances, as measured by successful implementation of one new environmental strategy by 9/29/2023 (and annually). Program goal: prevent and reduce alcohol use among youth and young adults ages 12-20 in upper saddle river and allendale, NJ. Objective #3: increase the perception of moderate or great risk/harm from alcohol use to 85% for all grade levels surveyed by 9/29/2024. Objective #4: increase the perception of peer disapproval regarding alcohol use by 5% for all grade levels surveyed by 9/29/2024. Usra coalition's stop act project will be led by three key personnel, and IT will partner with upper saddle river police department, the local schools, and the mayor's office in the proposed project. Its 4-year timeline and 12-month plan for stop act project implementation include the eight required activities in addition to specific activities designed to support the project objectives directly.