Working Together for a Drug Free Community

Sometimes is good to be a fly on the wall.  Recently, my antennae picked up a conversation about some possible money that could be available to communities to help fund some work around drug and alcohol prevention. 

Now while the Drug Free Communities grant is usually posted in January, I thought it might be a good idea to give a few of the NYC partnerships the heads up so they could begin working on some of the more specific requirements usually called for in the proposal.

Good News - The grant is for five year at 125,000 per year to fund community partnerships in addressing the community level risk factors of underage drinking and substance abuse.  Communities have been able to apply for no more than ten years. 

The grant is given to established community partnerships around for a minimum of six months of formal activity.  It follows the Strategic Prevention Framework and requires the group to have specific components at the time of applying.  These include:

• The coalition must have at least one representative from the required 12 sectors, as outlined in the RFA and the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997;
• The coalition must maintain meeting minutes that demonstrate that it is a unique entity that has substantial involvement from its members and is working toward to the two goals of the DFC program;
• The coalition must address multiple (more than one) drugs per year in its annual Strategic/Action Plans for each year of funding;
• The coalition must have as its principal mission the reduction of youth substance use;
• The coalition has not already received 10 years of DFC funding; and
• The coalition must capture and provide the data required by the DFC National Evaluation.

So, consider this your six month wake up call.  If you have been looking for another incentive to continue the great work that your partnership has been doing or just looking for an excuse to motivate and galvanize the troops...look no further.   While the DFC grant is not an absolute guarantee, it will help strengthen your group and give members something to strive for.

See...I told you it was good to be a fly on the wall.

Until next time,

-CW

For complete information about the Drug Free Communities grant...click here