PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Health and Human Services was awarded a $625,000 federal Drug Free Communities grant to support the Port Angeles Healthy Youth Coalition for the next five years, county human services planner Florence Bucierka announced.
The Port Angeles Healthy Youth Coalition works to prevent substance abuse through such programs as Prevention Works!
Clallam County was one of 169 agencies to receive the grant out of 521 that applied, Bucierka said.
The Drug Free Communities program is directed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
It provides grants of up to $625,000 over five years with the potential for 10 years of funding.
Community coalitions like Port Angeles Healthy Youth facilitate citizen participation in youth drug prevention efforts.
The Port Angeles Healthy Youth Coalition was formed in 2003 under a University of Washington Social Development Research Group Communities That Care grant to study coalition development and the prevention of substance abuse.
The coalition was part of a Washington State Incentive Grant administered by the state Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery.
The University of Washington study found that rates of binge drinking were 37 percent lower among eighth-grade students in communities in seven states that used a prevention system designed to reduce drug use and delinquent behavior compared with teenagers in communities that did not use the system.
A 2009 UW study found that eighth-graders in places that offered the Communities That Care prevention system had significantly lower levels of alcohol and smokeless tobacco use and engaged in fewer delinquent behaviors.
All community members are welcome to join the Port Angeles Healthy Youth Coalition.
The group meets monthly at Hamilton Elementary School, 1822 W. Seventh St., Port Angeles, at 4 p.m. the third Monday of the month except for holidays.
The next meeting is Feb. 28.
For more information, phone project coordinator Dale Holiday at 360-417-2436.