Van Buren County IPFS Project Update

The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition was awarded the Iowa Partnership for Success (IPFS) Grant in February, 2015 to address underage drinking and underage binge drinking in Van Buren County.  The coalition began the fourth year of this five year grant on September 30, 2017.  The Van Buren County SAFE Coalition’s IPFS project is funded by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

During the 2017-18 Fiscal Year the coalition is continuing to build capacity & sustainability, evaluate the work being done, and implement the five strategies it was funded to work on as follows:  

1) Alcohol Restrictions at Community Events at Privately Owned Facilities: The coalition is working with privately owned facilities to help them implement alcohol policies focused on the Best Practices for Alcohol Service at their location.  During the 2016-17 Fiscal Year four facilities established or continued with their “No Alcohol Allowed” policies (two of these are verbal only policies); the coalition worked with two other facilities to develop written Alcohol Restriction Policies and was in contact with three other facilities about whether or not they would like to develop policies for their facilities.  Coalition members continue to work with three facilities that are open to new written policies and are meeting with two other facilities who may be interested in new written policies in the 2017-18 Fiscal Year.  The coalition has heard from two facilities that they are not interested in written policies.  One has a verbal policy and one does not want a policy at this time. 

2) Alcohol Restrictions in Public Places: During the 2016-17 Fiscal Year the coalition researched what alcohol restriction policies are being followed in each town and in the county.  Coalition members visited with each city council in July to present them with information on policies they could use that would address the availability of alcohol to youth in public places, such as public parks and community ball fields.  Coalition members again visited with the city councils in January and March to find out if they are interested in implementing Alcohol Restriction Policies for their public places.  Two towns are not interested with Alcohol Restriction Policies at this time.  One town believes that they do have written policies for their ball park and city park and are checking into that.  The other four towns are going to be discussing the possibility of implementing Alcohol Restriction Policies for their towns.  The coalition staff will be checking with them on this in April. 

3) Substance Abuse Prevention Programs for Youth: The coalition is working with the Van Buren Community School District to implement the Botvin Life Skills Training Program in the 7th and 8th grades.  During the 2016-17 school year the 7th and 8th grade students all completed Level I of the curriculum.  During the 2017-18 school year the 7th grade students will be completing Level I of the curriculum and the 8th grade students will be completing Level II as the curriculum builds upon itself.  So far this school year, 57 7th grade students have completed the Level I curriculum.  The 8^th grade students have begun the Level II curriculum.   

4) Underage Drinking Prevention Media Campaign: The coalition has worked with local media outlets to implement IDPH’s “What Do You Throw Away” underage drinking prevention media campaign.  It is currently displayed on posters in the Van Buren County Hospital & Clinics; posters and screensavers at local libraries; and posters, electronic billboard ads, and computer backgrounds at the Van Buren Community Middle/High School. During the 2017 summer the campaign was also displayed in poster form at local convenience stores, the Keosauqua Pool, and at Lacey Keosauqua State Park.  During the summer of 2018 the coalition plans to work with local outlets again to have the posters displayed for youth to see. 

5) Social Host Ordinance: A Social Host Ordinance addresses the problem of adults knowingly providing a place for an underage drinking party.  The coalition currently is working to educate community members and government officials on why this ordinance would be helpful in Van Buren County and to build support for the ordinance.  The coalition will be hosting three learning forums in the next six months to educate about the ordinance, how to approach local government officials to encourage support for the ordinance, and to allow for discussion on the need for such policies in Van Buren County. 

For more information on the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition or the Van Buren County IPFS Project please contact the coalition office at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or info@vbsafecoalition.com.