Coalitions and Community Based Prevention

Vickie B. AdamsCoalition Director

Boyd BaxterCoalition

Coordinator

Rudy LopezCoalition

Coordinator

Circles of SA History Formed in 1998 Serves Bexar County Underage Drinking Forums Partnership with DEA on Drug Take Backs Fiesta Commission

◦ Reduced beer serving size◦ Festival seller server training

BCDWI Task Force and District Attorney◦ Increased DWI Enforcement◦ No refusal 24-7 policy

Circles of San Antonio Community Coalition Community Coalition Partnerships (CCP)

Drug Free Communities (DFC)

Partnership for Success (PFS)

Funding Source

Texas-Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

Federal- Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

Texas- Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)

Staff Boyd Baxter Rudy Lopez To Be HiredTarget Population

18-25 in colleges and universities

12-17 youth 12-20 underage drinking

12-25 RX misuseTarget Area

Bexar County Zip Codes in the SAISD Boundaries

Areas around Universities

Strategies Underage Drinking- Reducing Access

Social Host Ordinance

Increase Alcohol Tax

Underage Drinking-Increase

EnforcementSynthetic Drugs

Retailer Education

Underage Drinking-

Reducing Access Alcohol Outlet

DensityRetailer Education

Why Coalitions?

A coalition is a vehicle for bringing together various community and government sectors to develop

and carry out strategies that have an impact on the whole

community.

Refer to the Coalition MOU “Wheel”

Strategic Prevention Framework Process

Noise Nuisance Vandalism Student Safety Health Care Costs/ Burden Law Enforcement costs/ police calls for

service Violence Drinking-Driving

Community-level problems

Parties are high risk settings for binge

drinking and consequences

Alcohol provided free or at low cost per drink

Often unsupervised; sometimes with parental/adult

permission

Increased risk for DUI, riding with

drunk driver, sexual assault, violence, injuries, vandalism

Underage Drinking Parties

UTSA Police Sergeant Geoffrey Merritt said, “The key to keeping crime rates down is stopping underage drinking.” Quote from 2013

Underage Drinking Parties

Underage Drinking Parties

Underage Drinking Parties

A tweet sent out by someone believed to be an organizer says "We hired an off duty cop, he doesn't care about smoking and drinking, all he cares about is keeping tonight with 0 fights.  Let's party.“ (source; http://www.foxsanantonio.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/edgewood-isd-officer-investigated-underage-drinking-party-4587.shtml#.U6scUk1OWM9

Substance use has an insidious way of interfering with a student’s ability to take

advantage of all that college has to offer. Interventions to

reduce rates of substance use should be part of any college’s

plan to improve student retention.

Academic Opportunity Costs of Substance Use During College

There are many influences on college student drinking

Student Family history Personality Mental Health Distorted expectations of

consequencesCommunity Enforcement of Laws Alcohol Availability Alcohol Pricing Alcohol Promotion

Parent Expectations Vigilance Modeling DisapprovalCampus Norms Policy Enforcement Availability of resources Screening and

intervention services

Seven Strategiesfor Community Change

1. Providing Information 2. Enhancing Skills 3. Providing Support 4. Enhancing Access/Reducing 5. Changing Consequences6. Physical Design7. Modifying/Changing Policies

Alcohol Problems Prevention:Changing the Paradigm

Cleaning our streams of substance abuse Vickie Adams

Circles of San Antonio

Individual Focus vs. Environmental FocusFOCUS: Individual Behavior

GOAL: eliminate personal alcohol use

TOOLS: education and developing refusal skills

WHO: Parent, teacher and child

FOCUS: policy, laws, attitudes, behaviors

GOAL: community control

TOOLS: media and policy advocacy, social pressure, enforcing laws

WHO: shared/community power

TST, 2014

Increased Risk of DependencyAge Started

Drinking (year)

Alcohol Dependence

(%)<14 4714 4515 3816 3217 2818 1519 1720 11

>21 9Data from National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions as presented in Hingson, Heeren, & Winter, 2006, Age at Drinking Onset and Alcohol Dependence.

What Doesn’t Work

Informed choice

• Research indicates it

• Education does not make much difference

Dr. Sally Caswell

Environmental Approach

Environmental Strategies incorporate prevention efforts

aimed at changing or influencing community conditions, standards,

institutions, structures, systems and policies.

College Alcohol Systems Model

Environmental Strategies to reduce underage drinking

• Social Host OrdinancesAvailability

• Controlled Party DispersalEnforcement

• Increasing Alcohol Excise TaxesPrice

Planning Alcohol Interventions Using NIAAA’s COLLEGE AIM

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/CollegeAIM/Resources/NIAAA_College_Matrix_Booklet.pdf

Among College Students, a 10% increase in the price of beer is associated with the

following:

8.9% decrease in the number of drinks

4.8% decrease in the probability of getting in trouble with the police

3.6% decrease in the probability of taking

advantage of another person sexually or being taken advantage of sexually

Source: Grossman, M. & S. Markowitz, “Alcohol Regulation & Violence on College Campuses,” 2001

What can you do to help?

Act as a Community Lifeguard

Report underage drinking parties to law enforcement

Work to Reduce Access to Alcohol in

Your Community

Be a Spokesperson

Educate the public on the costs and

dangers of underage drinking

Advocate for Social Host Accountability

Join the COSA Coalition

Help build community awareness

Learn about other strategies that are

effective at reducing underage drinking

Contact UsCircles of San Antonio Community Coalition

San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug AbuseSouth Texas Centre, AT&T Building7500 US Hwy 90 West, Suite 100

San Antonio, Texas 78227(210) 225-4741 coalition@sacada.org

www.facebook.com/circlesofsawww.twitter.com/circlesofsa

Next meeting is January 13th 3-5pm at SACADA