Rocmnd PFS - in ottawa county, oklahoma, too many young people are growing up in communities where prevention resources are limited, risk factors are escalating, and early opportunities to intervene…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded $250,000 to Rocmnd Area Youth Services Inc. on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.492).

Rocmnd will implement the Strategic Prevention Framework-Partnerships for Success Project to build a coordinated youth substance abuse prevention system in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, serving youth ages 12–18. The project targets elevated risk for alcohol and cannabis initiation driven by rural geography, economic stress, and limited prevention infrastructure. Rocmnd will complete a county-wide needs assessment, strengthen workforce and referral planning, deliver evidence-based prevention curricula, develop youth coalition leadership, implement underage drinking prevention and environmental strategies, and conduct data-driven continuous quality improvement. Activities include service mapping, listening sessions, facilitator training, prevention programming, youth-led campaigns, responsible retailer education, referral coordination, fidelity monitoring, and quarterly plan-do-study-act reviews. Work will be performed in Miami, Oklahoma, and reach young people through schools, community settings, juvenile justice, child welfare, alternative education, and tribal community contexts. Care Consulting will provide evaluation support. The period of performance extends from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2031.

Rocmnd PFS - in ottawa county, oklahoma, too many young people are growing up in communities where prevention resources are limited, risk factors are escalating, and early opportunities to intervene are missed. Rocmnd area youth services, INC. Will implement the strategic prevention framework-partnerships for success project to change that trajectory for youth ages 12-18 across this rural county of 30,404 residents, including approximately 7,662 youth under age 18. The project will reach young people through schools, community settings, juvenile justice, child welfare, alternative education, and tribal community contexts. Local data show elevated risk for alcohol and cannabis initiation and escalation, driven by rural geography, economic stress, limited prevention infrastructure, and gaps in early identification, referral, youth leadership, evidence-based programming, and performance management. Rocmnd's project will build a stronger, coordinated prevention system by completing a county-wide needs assessment; strengthening workforce and referral planning; delivering evidence-based curricula; developing youth coalition leadership; implementing underage drinking prevention and environmental strategies; and using data-driven continuous quality improvement to guide action. Rocmnd will lead implementation with schools, youth-serving organizations, community partners, tribal health partners, and care consulting, with care consulting providing evaluation support. Activities will include service mapping, listening sessions, facilitator and partner training, prevention programming, youth-led campaigns, responsible retailer education, referral coordination, fidelity monitoring, spars/PPR reporting, pre- and post-measures, and quarterly plan-do-study-act reviews. By project end, ottawa county will have more than a set of prevention activities-IT will have a stronger, measurable, and sustainable prevention infrastructure designed to reduce past 30-day alcohol and cannabis use among youth, increase access to evidence-based services, strengthen workforce and referral capacity, establish sustained youth prevention leadership, and improve the county's ability to use data for prevention planning, accountability, and long-term impact.