Birch BAY-blaine thrives 2026 project abstract summary (year six) located in the northwest corner of washington state, the blaine school district serves the city of blaine and the unincorporated areas…

The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded $125,000 to Blaine School District on July 1, 2026, under the Drug-Free Communities Support Program Grants (CFDA 93.276) to support the Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives community prevention coalition.

The Birch Bay-Blaine Thrives coalition, formed in 2018, works to prevent and reduce youth substance use in the Blaine School District area of northwest Washington State. The coalition addresses rising marijuana and e-cigarette use among youth, which exceed state rates by 2 and 10 percentage points respectively. Blaine is a high-intensity drug traffic area designated by the federal government, with two international border crossings and location on a major U.S. drug trafficking corridor, creating heightened risk for youth substance use. The award supports the coalition's multi-sector community response to alcohol and cannabis use and mental health challenges among students in the district, which serves 1,981 students, 46 percent of whom qualify for free and reduced meals.

The award runs through June 30, 2031, with place of performance in Washington. Performance and financial reports are required annually, with a final report due at project completion. The DFC Support Program requires community coalitions to demonstrate at least six months of prior collaboration on substance abuse reduction, meet composition standards, provide 100–150 percent cash or in-kind match, and participate in program evaluation.

Birch BAY-blaine thrives 2026 project abstract summary (year six) located in the northwest corner of washington state, the blaine school district serves the city of blaine and the unincorporated areas of birch BAY and point roberts. The total population is 18,610 with a racial mix of 76% white, 11% asian, and 6% hispanic, and 7% native, black, and mixed race. The 2024 school population includes 1,981 students with 46% qualifying for free and reduced meals. The student population demographics are: 51% male, 49% female, 65% white, 19% hispanic, 7% mixed race, 6% asian, 2% native american, and 1% black. This project, called birch BAY-blaine thrives, will support the community's efforts on behalf of the youth and families served by the geographic area served by blaine school district. With the legalization of marijuana, community social norms have changed. Both marijuana and E-cigarette use have risen and are higher than the state rates by 2% and 10%. Blaine is a growing border town on "corridor D" of major US drug trafficking routes. With two international border crossings, there is increasing cargo and drug traffic on interstate 5 from canada into the U.S. Putting our youth at significant additional risk for substance use. Blaine is designated a high intensity drug traffic area by the federal government. Birch BAY-blaine thrives, a community prevention coalition, was formed in 2018 to create a collective community response to the problem of youth substance use. The community needed a multi-sector response to high rates of youth alcohol and cannabis use and increasing mental health challenges. We received our first drug free communities support grant in 2020. During the past five years, blaine school youth rates for alcohol and cannabis use have reduced. However, the results of the 2023 healthy youth survey (HYS) show the use rates of cannabis and alcohol and other risk factors for blaine students remain troubling. Use rates are higher than state rates, particularly for 10TH grade. Additionally troubling, six key risk factors have increased and are higher than the state rates for all grades. A key protective factor measured in the HYS, scores on the hope scale, have decreased significantly. For this continuation grant (year six), thrives will be fiscally managed by the blaine school district. Our goals over the next five years are to: deepen and broaden our education efforts and successful prevention partnerships; expand our visibility; and strengthen our collective community capacity to reduce and prevent youth substance use.