Family connection of columbia county, INC. Drug free community coalition - columbia county is a growing, prosperous area that is part of metro-augusta, the second largest metropolitan area in georgia

IT is located in the east central portion of georgia along the south carolina border. IT is considered the gateway to the fort gordon army post, home of the U.S. Army cyber center of excellence. The county is made up of five communities: appling, evans, grovetown, harlem and martinez. IT has 290 square miles split by interstate 20. Over the last 20 years, the county has been growing rapidly, concentrated in the martinez-evans area and in harlem and grovetown. As the county?S population has grown to 154,291 - a 25% increase in the past 10 years - IT has evolved from primarily rural to an increasingly urban bedroom community. About 73.5% of the population is white, 18.4% african american, 6.9% hispanic, 4.2% asian and 3% multi-racial and other. Approximately 10% of the population speak a language other than english with spanish by far the most common other language. Children 18 and younger comprise 25% of the population while 11% are active and retired military families. Columbia county is more urbanized than its rural neighbors, with many shopping, cultural and recreational opportunities, mostly near evans, voted one of the best places to live by money magazine in 2013. South of I-20, the county is more rural and its residents are much poorer. Columbia county has a lower percentage of people living in poverty than its neighbors (16% VS 23.5% for the metro-augusta region); however, IT has seen a recent rise in the percentage of children living in poverty. The free and reduced lunch rate has grown from 11% to 33% in the past decade. Pockets of poverty are located throughout the county, with some schools having 60% to 70% FRL rates. Even so, the median income is $20,000 higher than georgia?S. While there are no statistics currently available, IT is estimated that the augusta region (including columbia county) has the SEC OND largest lgbtq population in georgia with about 27% having children school-aged or younger. Approximately 41% of the residents consider themselves religious. A majority identify with various christian denominations and 3% identify with judaism, islam and other eastern religions. The school system has 23,340 students attending 18 elementary schools, eight middle schools, five high schools and one alternative school. Student demographics mirror those of the county. The high school graduation rate is 92%, higher than the state average. Many adults work long hours outside the home and have an average commute time of 30 minutes leaving youth with unsupervised out-of-school time. There are only a handful of supervised afterschool programs. Most high school students have their own cars, money and free time to indulge in a variety of risky behaviors. Lake thurmond provides the site for many teen parties where alcohol is commonly used. There is easy access to alcohol and other drugs, mostly from homes. Juvenile court is packed with minor in possession charges. Five years ago, residents were steeped in denial that alcohol, marijuana and other drugs presented problems in columbia county. Thanks to the family connection?S drug free community coalition and the DFC support program grant they received from 2015 through 2020, impressive inroads in changing those perceptions have been made. The family connection has long history of bringing the right folks to the table to identify and tackle all sorts of problems, and their dfcc has continued this tradition in tackling youth substance use. Not only is the community more aware of the problems related to youth substance use, but there is strong public will to support the dfcc?S efforts to address them. Multiple strategies to reduce access and change the norms of acceptance to those that recognize no-use is the better option are currently in place and will be expanded during