Appalachian substance use prevention groups awarded $1.25M

Coalitions in two Appalachian Ohio counties, Adams and Lawrence, have recently been recognized for their efforts to reduce alcohol misuse.

In September, the River Hills Prevention Connection in Lawrence County and the Adams County Youth Prevention Coalition were awarded Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grants. The DFC grants provide $125,000 annually for the next five years, with an opportunity to renew for another five.

DFC grants are highly competitive, and it is common for coalitions to apply multiple times before being awarded. As first-time DFC applicants, being selected for the grant speaks volumes about the work that the coalitions in Adams and Lawrence County have put forth.

Ohio University’s connection to this project is through the Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Success Communities of Practice in Southeast Ohio (SPF-PFS in SEO) initiative coordinated by the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service’s Partnership for Community-based Prevention (P4CBP). This initiative began in 2019 through a five-year $1.5 million grant awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

According to Sherry Stout, the Adams County Medical Foundation’s (ACMF) executive director, the assistance, training, and support provided by the P4CBP helped ACMF build capacity in prevention and the infrastructure necessary to apply for future funding.

“Without the SPF-PFS grant, we wouldn't have been noticed or could pull something like this together; we didn't know anything about prevention,” Stout says. “And change doesn’t come rapidly, and people don’t necessarily see it, but we’re making a difference. That’s a fact.”

“Preventing alcohol use is still our number one priority,” says Dr. Holly Raffle, Professor of Leadership and Public Service in the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, who leads the school’s community-based prevention efforts. “It has long-term effects such as cancer and heart disease and can impact healthy family functioning.”  According to SAMHSA, conversations between youth and caring adults have a significant impact on delaying youth substance use. However, in many instances, adults feel ill-equipped or don’t know how to initiate these conversations. This was true in both Lawrence and Adams counties.

In Lawrence County, Impact Prevention facilitated listening session which found that the students said their parents don’t talk to them about using alcohol, and the parents said they didn’t know how to bring up drinking with their teenagers.

Mollie Stevens, executive director of Impact Prevention, adds “Alcohol is much more of an ‘acceptable substance,’ so that makes it harder to address, but the grant allowed us to reach a lot of our population and give parents skills to talk to their kids.”

Through the implementation of SAMHSA’s evidence-based Talk. They Hear You.®, Impact Prevention provided trustworthy resources and information so that adults felt equipped and empowered to talk to youth regarding the use of alcohol and other substances. And their efforts are working: In a 2021 survey of students at Dawson-Bryant High School in Coal Grove, 86% said they don’t drink alcohol.

In Adams County, more than 100 students were expelled in 2022 for repeated violations of Ohio Valley School District’s substance use policy - vaping being the primary reason. To reduce youth substance use and expulsions, the ACMF worked with the local coalition, school district, Juvenile Prosecutor’s office, and law enforcement to create a diversion program using the evidence-based curriculum, Not On Tobacco. This allowed students a pathway back into the classroom via an educational class at the county courthouse.

“We're not just saying ‘don't do it,’ but instead, we're saying, ‘don't do it, and here's a way to stop doing it,’” says coalition member Danielle Poe, director of behavioral health at the Ohio Valley School District. “We get the parents involved, and all work together to get that student back in the classroom rather than be expelled.”

The SPF-PFS in SEO initiative wouldn’t have been possible without the initial funding and support from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) and the Appalachian New Economy Partnership (ANEP) administered by Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. Moving forward, the P4CBP plans to apply for another SPF-PFS grant to continue working with Appalachian communities. Please visit the SPF-PFS SEO website to view the current work of each community.