Stop underage drinking project - bethel's global reach (BGR), INC

Stop underage drinking project will expand houston's prevention infrastructure by forming three alcohol response committees serving the three communities constituting houston independent school district (hisd) high schools (kashmere, sterling, and wisdom) catchment areas. Six community partners including hisd and bethel's community coalition have committed to supporting the stop project implementation through the expansion of a mix of evidence-based prevention strategies, programs, and activities. Houston, TX is a city of 2.3 million people: 50% of harris county's population and the 4TH largest in the county. (census, 2020) the racial and ethnic makeup include 51.5% white, 22.8% black, 6.9% asian, 7% multiracial; 44.5% of the population identify as hispanic of any race. Hisd is in stark contrast with the city. Most of the students (90%) represent one or more racial minority group, of whom 61.7% identify as hispanic in ethnicity. Furthermore, poverty is predominant among hisd students - 78.5% are considered below the poverty line (hisd, 2021) compared to 19.6% citywide (census, 2020). BGR will facilitate implementation of each component of the SPF (assessment, capacity, planning, implementation, and evaluation) ensuring a high degree of cultural competency and probability of sustainability. The assessment step will begin with updating the existing houston epidemiology profile within the first 60 days along with a behavioral health disparities impact statement. The updated epidemiology profile will provide more complete information on the origin and effect of underage drinking, alcohol use disorder, and recovery in kashmere, sterling, and wisdom high school communities. In addition, the project will engage houston youth in GEO mapping and environmental scans to identify root causes of underage drinking and associated problem behaviors. This new information will be used to strengthen prevention capacity, build infrastructure, and leverage other funding streams and resources using coordinated outreach and messaging strategies. At the end of the 4-year project, BGR will have expanded houston prevention infrastructure to serve over 8,020 high school youth and significantly prevent and reduce underage drinking in our community.