Project Grant H79SP085375

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded Cape Assist, Inc. $250,000 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.492) to implement the Cape May Prevention Partnership, a Strategic Prevention Framework initiative addressing alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine/vaping use among youth and emerging adults in Cape May County, New Jersey.

Cape Assist will deliver evidence-based school prevention programming, youth resiliency teams, adult and teen Mental Health First Aid training, and community prevention education targeting youth ages 14–18 and emerging adults ages 18–34, with priority to communities experiencing poverty, seasonal employment, housing instability, and limited access to prevention resources. The county's year-round population of 93,390 expands to nearly 800,000 seasonally, creating distinct prevention infrastructure challenges. Key strategies include strengthening local data systems through countywide needs assessment, expanding the prevention workforce through evidence-based training and certification, providing technical assistance to community partners, and enhancing cross-sector collaboration via the Healthy Community Coalition, a community data review team, and youth advisory council. The project will build sustainable prevention capacity and implement coordinated evidence-based strategies to reduce risk factors and strengthen protective factors among the target population.

The period of performance runs from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2031. Work is performed in Wildwood, New Jersey. Cape Assist is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization based in Wildwood that has delivered substance abuse prevention, treatment, and community support services in Cape May County since registering with SAM.gov in 2006.