The Van Buren
County SAFE Coalition, through funding from the Iowa Partnerships for Success
Grant, is working to combat underage drinking. Residents may not realize that
preventing alcohol abuse begins with effective policies and procedures. “It’s
common to think of law enforcement as the primary way to stop teen drinking
through arrests and citations,” said Kris Rankin, Van Buren County’s Iowa
Partnerships for Success Coordinator. “It is clear that law enforcement is a
vital part of the network that is working to prevent and stop underage drinking
and youth binge drinking; however, actions taken at the city and private
facility level are also key to creating a healthy and safe environment for
teens and adults.”
A good example
of this is Keosauqua’s Band Shell Rental Policy that requires adult supervision
of events with participants under 21 years of age, that no alcohol be provided
to anyone under the age of 21 at an event, a higher deposit for events with
alcohol being served or sold at them, that alcohol be consumed in a fenced
portion of the property where participants under the age of 21 are not allowed,
and if cash bars are used, they must provide proof of dram shop insurance and
have a valid liquor sales license.
The SAFE
Coalition is available to work with residents, organizations and community
leaders to prevent underage drinking and to help develop appropriate policies
for their location. The coalition has worked with the Douds Community Center,
the Douds Community Club Grounds, the Lodge at Windy Ridge, and the Keosauqua
Senior Center to develop new written policies for their private
facilities. They have all now
implemented new written alcohol restriction policies for their facilities. The coalition has also been working with the
City of Birmingham, City of Bonaparte and City of Farmington to develop alcohol
restriction policies for their Public Places.
Residents are encouraged to learn about and advocate for strong
alcohol-related policies.
The SAFE Coalition
and Sieda Community Action offer free Merchant Alcohol Trainings where servers
are trained in the best practices of alcohol service to keep alcohol out of the
hands of youth in the county. The SAFE Coalition
also has ID Scanners that can be utilized during any event in the Van Buren
County area.
The SAFE
Coalition received the Iowa Partnerships for Success Grant in February 2015 to
address underage drinking and underage binge drinking in Van Buren County. The
Van Buren County SAFE Coalition’s Partnership for Success project is funded by
the Iowa Department of Public Health, through the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
No comments:
Post a Comment