PCSAC stop act project - porter county substance abuse council (PCSAC) has identified porter county as the catchment area and target population

More specifically, the stop act project will concentrate alcohol prevention and reduction strategies within the geographically isolated areas of porter county with an emphasis on high school and middle school youth between 12 to 20 years of age. Geographically, porter county sits in the northwest corner of indiana, 3 hours north of indianapolis and 45 minutes east of chicago. The county is a mix of urban and rural; top industries include agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and education. The US census (2020) recorded a population of 169,594. The racial makeup of the county was 82.8% white, 4.2% black or african american, 0.4% native american, 1.5% asian, 1.1% from two or more races. The hispanic/latino community doubled in size over the past 5 years from 4.82% in 2013 to 10.3% in 2020. Population is concentrated within the three largest cities in porter county: portage (36,505), chesterton (13,441), and valparaiso (33,104). The stop act will expand exiting alcohol prevention and reduction infrastructure to support over 15,000 residents living in more remote areas of the county. The goal of the PCSAC stop act project is to reduce 30-day alcohol use among 12TH grade students from the 2020 baseline of 33.3% to 30% (-3.3) by 2024 as measured by the indiana youth survey. To achieve this goal the PCSAC stop act project will expand and enhance our current youth alcohol use prevention and reduction strategies by: 1.expanding current SPF planning and development to include alcohol-specific component. 2. Mhfa will be expanded to include brief screening for alcohol use disorders and offered countywide, 3. Real media will be expanded to 3 middle schools (chesterton, portage, and valparaiso) and four additional high schools (hebron, kouts, morgan, and washington), 4. MOS will be enhanced to include monthly youth alcohol use prevention programming featuring youth and adult storylines. The enhancements include social media and direct messaging materials targeting underage drinking, 5. Sticker shock will be expanded to double the current volume in the first two years with the aim of maximizing utilization countywide, and 6. Included in sticker shock strategy is the promotion of legislation and/or policies that require the use of sticker shock or similar anti-underage drinking messaging.