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 8th 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.
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