Thursday, January 29, 2015

Van Buren County is selected for a Partnership for Success Award

SAMHSA's Partnerships for Success (PFS) grant programs (PFS I, PFS II, and PFS 2013) provide eligible states and jurisdictions with funds to achieve quantifiable declines in state-wide substance abuse rates. These programs are designed to address gaps in prevention services and increase the ability of states to assist high-need communities with serious, emerging substance abuse problems. PFS grant programs are also intended to bring SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to a national scale, providing opportunities for recipients to acquire additional resources to implement the SPF process at the state and community levels.

In 2009, SAMHSA announced the PFS I grant program, which funded (for up to five years) eligible states and jurisdictions to decrease state-wide substance abuse rates by meeting or exceeding quantifiable, state-wide, prevention performance targets. SAMHSA also offered PFS I grantees a performance incentive of $500,000 to participants who met or exceeded their performance targets by the end of Year 3. Only states and jurisdictions who received a Cohort I or II Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) were eligible to receive PFS I. The overall goals of PFS I are as follows:
·         Reduce substance abuse-related problems
·         Prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance abuse, including childhood and underage drinking;
·         Strengthen capacity and infrastructure at the state- and community-levels in support of prevention;
·         Leverage, redirect and realign state-wide funding streams for prevention.

In 2012 and 2013, SAMHSA announced two additional Partnerships for Success grant programs (PFS II and PFS 2013), both designed to address two of the nation's top substance abuse prevention priorities:
·         underage drinking among individuals ages 12 to 20
·         prescription drug misuse and abuse among individuals ages 12 to 25

These programs provide additional resources to states for implementing the SPF process at the state and community levels, and promote the alignment and leveraging of prevention resources and priorities at the federal, state, and community levels. Funding for PFS II was awarded to 15 grantees for three years. Eligible grantees included Substance Abuse Block Grant recipients who completed a SPF SIG and did not receive PFS I funds. Funding for PFS 2013 was awarded to 16 grantees for five years, Iowa was one of these recipients. Eligible grantees for PFS 2013 included Substance Abuse Block Grant recipients who completed a SPF SIG and did not receive PFS I or II funding. This money is then filtered down to the local communities in need.
Van Buren County will receive Partnership for Success Funding to continue the work of the SAFE Coalition by addressing underage and binge drinking. These funds will begin February 1, 2015 and run through September 29, 2019. The coalition will spend the first year completing a community assessment to identify the impact they have had over the last 10 years with the Drug Free Communities Funds and determine the next steps to continue making community change in Van Buren County.

For more information on the Partnership for Success Funds or any SAFE Coalition activities you may contact the coalition at 319-293-6412, via email at info@vabsafecoalition.com or check us out one the web at www.vbsafecoalition.com.

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