Building a positive community - project name: building a positive community boys and girls club of brattleboro, through its initiative of building a positive community (bapc), seeks to prevent and…

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Boys & Girls Club Of Brattleboro Inc. $240,000 on September 30, 2025, under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.243).

The award funds the Building A Positive Community initiative, which aims to prevent and reduce youth alcohol use in rural communities within the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, including Brattleboro, Putney, Dummerston, Vernon, and Guilford. The project targets youth ages 12–20 along with parents, caregivers, and community members who influence youth behavior. Over the four-year period of performance (September 30, 2025, through September 29, 2029), the initiative will reach approximately 800 parents, 1,200 youth, and 8,000 community members annually.

Implementation strategies include creating a youth advisory council and internship opportunities, providing youth and adult training in the Strategic Prevention Framework to enhance coalition engagement, conducting social norms and marketing campaigns to shift community attitudes, and delivering direct prevention services. The project will strengthen coalition and community capacity to address underage drinking, increase youth perception of harm associated with alcohol use, reduce youth access to alcohol, and increase the frequency of parent-child conversations about alcohol risks. Work is performed in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Building a positive community - project name: building a positive community boys and girls club of brattleboro, through its initiative of building a positive community (bapc), seeks to prevent and reduce youth alcohol use in the rural communities of windham southeast supervisory union (wsesu), including brattleboro, putney, dummerston, vernon, and guilford. Community data indicate high rates of underage drinking, low perceptions of harm, ease of access, and permissive social norms that contribute to youth alcohol use. This project will: strengthen coalition and community capacity to address underage drinking. Reduce youth alcohol use through evidence-based prevention strategies rooted in the strategic prevention framework (SPF) and cadca's seven strategies for community-level change. Population of impact and reach: the project will target youth ages 12-20 in the wsesu region, along with parents, caregivers, and community members who influence youth behavior. Annually, bapc will reach approximately 200 parents, 300 youth, and 2,000 community members, totaling an estimated 800 parents, 1,200 youth, and 8,000 community members over the project's duration. Key objectives: expand youth and adult participation in bapc coalition activities. Strengthen community assessment processes to guide strategic interventions. Increase youth perception of harm associated with alcohol use. Reduce youth access to alcohol. Decrease parental and caregiver behaviors that enable underage drinking. Increase the frequency of parent-child conversations about alcohol risks. Implementation strategies: bapc will develop a 12-month action plan and logic model for each funding year based on evolving community data. Key strategies will include: creating youth advisory council and internship opportunities. Providing youth and adult training in SPF to enhance coalition engagement. Conducting social norms and marketing campaigns to shift community attitudes. Delivering direct prevention services to youth, parents, caregivers, and school staff. Strengthening collaboration among governmental agencies, youth service providers, and educational institutions. Partnering with the vermont department of liquor and lottery to improve alcohol outlet compliance. Implementing targeted youth engagement programs, such as sticker shock campaigns and youth/parent dialogue nights. Through these comprehensive efforts, bapc will drive systemic change, reduce underage drinking, and promote a healthier, more resilient community.