About YouthEastPaloAlto (YouthEPA)
YouthEastPaloAlto (YouthEPA) is a project of the One East Palo Alto (OEPA) Community-Based Partnership for the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug-Related Problems (Community- Based Partnership). YouthEPA was recently awarded a 2009 Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant to involve and engage the community of East Palo Alto (EPA), CA in a comprehensive initiative to prevent and reduce alcohol and other drug abuse among youth. The project’s major activities are described below.
• YouthEPA will create a Steering Committee comprised of at least 12 representatives with a minimum of one for each of the DFC grant’s required sectors. The Steering Committee is comprised of EPA parents and youth, as well as leaders and/or representatives of local nonprofits, public and private sector organizations, state and local government entities, including, but not limited to Bay Area Community Resources/New Perspectives, Born Again Christian Center, Bread of Life Evangelistic Outreach, Built to Last Collaborative, County of San Mateo, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Alcohol and Other Drug Services (AOD), Drew Center Pharmacy, East Palo Alto Police Department, El Concilio of San Mateo County, EPA.net, Free At Last and Ravenswood Family Health Center.
• YouthEPA will recruit, orient, train and supervise a 20-member team of Youth Outreach and Promoter Interns (YOPI) and a four member Youth Planning Team (YPT).
• YouthEPA YOPIs and YPTs, working with project staff and members of the Steering Committee, will play lead roles in a 12-month, youth-driven and resident-centered community assessment, capacity building and planning process focused upon preventing youth use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs.
• YouthEPA YOPIs will spend three months being trained in a range of best practice strategies in youth leadership, youth organizing, outreach, assessment, planning strategies and the dynamics of community change.
• Once trained YouthEPA YOPIs will engage in extensive community outreach and assessment activities, including facilitation of focus groups, administration of surveys, door-to-door canvassing and analysis of data.
• Together with YouthEPA adult ‘allies’, YOPIs will also co-facilitate Steering Committee planning meetings and participate in large community meetings.
• YouthEPA Youth and adults will administer surveys assessing issues pertaining to the use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs in EPA to providers, students, parents, teachers, and general community residents.
• YouthEPA will host four annual culminating events will be scheduled during the planning year and in subsequent years, with these events combining dialogue with the community and alcohol-free community celebrations.
• To ensure that YouthEPA captures the input of all of EPA, targeted outreach will focus upon new immigrant families, non-English speaking families and other families who are historically uninvolved in community planning.
• Together, YouthEPA youth and adult partners will develop a comprehensive plan designed to prevent youth use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs.
For more information about YouthEPA, contact the following individuals:
OEPA Executive Director Dr. Faye McNair-Knox (650.330.7462, mcnair@1epa.org) or
OEPA Community Organizer José Santos (650.330.7459, jsantos@1epa.org)
PRESS RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
DRUG CZAR AWARDS $21 MILLION FOR LOCAL
DRUG FREE COMMUNITY COALITION EFFORTS
(Washington, D.C.) – Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), today announced the awarding of $21 million in new Drug Free Communities (DFC) grants to 161 communities across the country. One East Palo Alto (OEPA) Community-Based Partnership for the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug-Related Problems (Community-Based Partnership) in East Palo Alto (EPA), California was one of the grant recipients. OEPA will receive $124,993.00 in DFC grant funds to involve and engage its local community in a comprehensive initiative to prevent and reduce alcohol and other drug abuse among youth. The Community-Based Partnership features a culturally and linguistically diverse steering committee comprised of EPA parents and youth, as well as local nonprofits, public and private sector organizations, state and local government entities, including, but not limited to Bay Area Community Resources/New Perspectives, Born Again Christian Center, Bread of Life Evangelistic Outreach, Built to Last Collaborative, County of San Mateo, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services Alcohol and Other Drug Services (AOD), Drew Center Pharmacy, East Palo Alto Police Department, El Concilio of San Mateo County, EPA.net, Free At Last and Ravenswood Family Health Center.
“Efforts to keep our youth drug free are critical to developing a healthy community here in East Palo Alto,” said Faye C. McNair-Knox, Ph.D., OEPA’s Executive Director. “The Drug Free Communities Program recognizes the great potential of OEPA’s Community-Based Partnership to help save lives of youth. This new funding will allow the Community-Based Partnership to mobilize and organize our community to prevent and reduce substance abuse, while providing an opportunity for EPA youth to play a leadership role in the overall initiative. Also exciting is the fact that the DFC grant will augment and enable us to leverage a County of San Mateo AOD contract OEPA was awarded earlier this year for similar work.”
“The Drug Free Communities Support Program bolsters individuals and groups across the Nation that are improving their communities by preventing drug abuse,” said Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration Acting Administrator, Eric Broderick. “SAMHSA is honored to play a role in this innovative program, which has done so much to promote well- being, hope and feelings of empowerment among so many young people.”
Gil Kerlikowske, ONDCP Director and President Obama’s “Drug Czar,” said, “Evidence shows that communities receiving DFC funding have lower instances of youth using tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. I commend coalitions like the One East Palo Alto Community-Based Partnership for the Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug-Related Problems, who work tirelessly to prevent and reduce youth drug use across the Nation with the aid of DFC grants.”
The Drug Free Communities program is directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The DFC program provides grants of up to $625,000 over five years to community coalitions that facilitate citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. Coalitions are comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and the media.
The 161 new grantees were selected from 417 applicants through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. To qualify for matching grants, all awardees must have at least a six-month history of working together on substance abuse reduction initiatives, have representation from 12 specific sectors of the community, develop a long-term plan to reduce substance abuse, and participate in the national evaluation of the DFC program.
The DFC program was created by the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997, and was reauthorized by Congress in 2001 and 2006. Since 1998, ONDCP has awarded approximately 1,500 DFC grants to local communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Palau, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
More information about the Drug-Free Communities Program is available at: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/dfc