Partnership for ChangeDrug Free Communities

Baseline EvaluationOctober 13, 2015

Partnership for ChangeDrug Free Communities

Baseline EvaluationOctober 13, 2015

Presented by: Linda M. Bosma, PhDBosma Consulting, LLC

Presented by: Linda M. Bosma, PhDBosma Consulting, LLC

Overview of Presentation

• Overview of Drug Free Communities grant and evaluation requirements

• Baseline findings of DFC indicators

• Discussion on next evaluation steps and needs

Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant

• Federal grant• Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)• Requires environmental prevention efforts• Achieve community level change—change is focused

on populations, not individuals• Emphasis on policy• Grounded in prevention science—strategies must be

evidence based

DFC Goals

1. Establish and maintain a strong coalition of diverse stakeholders from the community that leads efforts

2. Reduce rates of youth substance use in the community

Require Evaluation

• All DFC grantees are required to collect and report data on the core measures and evaluate their progress

• They are also required to do extensive reporting on their activity

• Do additional evaluation within their communities to assess the development of their coalition and achievement of goals that will contribute to reducing rates of substance use in their communities.

DFC: Core Measures

• Required for Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana, and Prescription Drugs:– Use in the past 30 days (current)– Perception of risk/harm from use– Perception of parental disapproval of use– Perception of peer disapproval of use

PFC Evaluation Questions

1. To what extent are rates of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drug use by youth being reduced?

2. To what extent does PFC have the capacity to address alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drug use by youth in the communities it serves?

3. To what extent is PFC addressing the access and availability of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs to underage persons in the communities it serves?

4. To what extent is the community aware of the problem of youth alcohol use and the efforts of PFC to address those problems?

Coalition Capacity

• Members believe PFC is capable & able to impact substance use rates

• Strengths: Leadership, goals, and membership

Law Enforcement Efforts

• Compliance Checks• Arrests for furnishing to a minor• Underage consumption citations• Driving Under Influence (DUI)• Not-A-Drop DUI enforcement• Social Host Ordinance enforcement• Place of Last Drink (POLD)• Retail Alcohol Vendor Education & Enforcement

(RAVE)

Drug-related Arrests

• 153—Marijauna Possession• 140—Possession of drug paraphernalia• 45—Possession other controlled substances• 52—Distribution of a controlled substance

Total Arrests

• 979—Drug abuse violations• 154—Liquor law violations• 7,701—Total Arrests in PFC Cities

Substance Use in the Environment

• Youth alcohol use norms—acceptance of use, lack of awareness/denial, okay if not ‘in excess’

• Contributing factors—peer pressure, community norms of using alcohol, self-medicating/stress

• Concern that community members not well informed or willing to address substance use, even though many believe leaders care about the issue

• Barriers—Norms of acceptability, easy availability, lack of parent support, compete with other issues for attention, inconsistent funding

Summary

• Alcohol and marijuana use most prevalent• Alcohol & tobacco use is declining, but marijuana use

is increasing• Less perception that marijuana is harmful or that

peers will disapprove of its use• Similarities to Minnesota rates

Summary (continued)

• Capable coalition• Strong cooperation with law enforcement and many

efforts on reducing access and enforcing alcohol and drug laws

• Concern that the community environment has norms of acceptance of use and needs more interest in addressing substance use

Next steps & discussion

• What information ‘made sense’ or confirmed what you knew?

• What, if any, information surprised you?• What information is missing (related to DFC) that

we’d like to try to include in future evaluation work?• Other comments and questions?

Thank You!Thank You!