Partners for prevention in allegany county - the partners for prevention in allegany county project will prevent and reduce underage drinking by engaging local youth and partners to enhance the…

Partners for prevention in allegany county - the partners for prevention in allegany county project will prevent and reduce underage drinking by engaging local youth and partners to enhance the capacity of the coalition to increase the community's awareness of the negative consequences of underage drinking through multimedia campaigns, town hall meetings, and policy changes. Ppac will work with retailers and community event organizers to establish methods to comply with the law and reduce underage drinkers' access to alcohol. Young people from local schools will be involved in the project by helping develop messages that inform parents and adults in the community about the risk from underage drinking. School alcohol policies will be reviewed to include prevention and intervention as an alternative to punitive measures. The goal of the project is to prevent and reduce underage drinking among allegany county youth aged 12 to 20. The project will reach approximately 2,050 middle, high school, and college students annually. The focus population for the project includes students living in rural areas coming from low-income families. Prevention programs will consider young people's development including adverse childhood experiences and trauma. The project will utilize certified recovery peer advocates who are available to schools to provide an understanding of the dynamics of addiction and recovery and promote telehealth opportunities throughout the county for community members to access to clinical services. The project has multiple objectives including increasing young people's perception of harm from drinking, increasing peer and parental disapproval of alcohol use, changing community norms related to underage drinking, and reducing access to alcohol by implementing responsible service practices and offering alternative positive activities in the communities. Ppac and the prevention technology transfer center (pttc) will offer parents access to podcasts, blogs, social media campaigns, toolkits, and training. These activities will provide opportunities for increased citizen participation in prevention activities and interaction with governmental and private sector agencies from all sectors of the community that work with substance abuse issues.