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 fifth year of this five year grant on September 30,
2018. 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 this final year of the IPFS Project the coalition is continuing to
build capacity, build 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 write, adopt, and implement
alcohol policies focused on the Best Practices for Alcohol Service at their location. During this year the coalition members will
continue to work with three of the ten facilities in Van Buren County to
encourage implementation of alcohol restrictions policies. One facility is in the process of writing
their new policy. Four of the ten
facilities have already adopted and implemented new written alcohol restriction
policies since 2016. The coalition would
recommend that all facilities in the county put into place a written alcohol
restriction policy. The coalition will
also be working with local law enforcement to provide training on how to
enforce these new policies.
2) Alcohol Restrictions in
Public Places: The coalition is working with the towns in Van Buren County
to help them write, adopt, and implement alcohol policies focused on the Best
Practices for Alcohol Service in Public Places.
Currently, one town has a “no alcohol allowed" policy for their baseball
park and will be hanging signs at the baseball park that state no alcohol
allowed on the premises. One town is allowing
the coalition to participate in a community event planning committee that will
set policy for their community events and is considering an alcohol restriction
policy. One town is considering
establishing and implementing a best practices alcohol restriction policy for
their community park by the end of September 2019. Another town, in collaboration with the
coalition, is working on implementing a no alcohol allowed policy for their new
sports complex and baseball fields. The coalition is interested in working with
all of the towns in Van Buren County on how best to implement policies to make
sure alcohol is being served safely during community events. The coalition will also be working with local
law enforcement to provide officers with training on how to enforce these new
ordinances.
3) Substance Abuse Prevention
Programs for Youth: The coalition has worked with the Van Buren Community
School District to implement the Botvin Life Skills Training Program in the 7th
and 8th grades since the 2016-17 school year.
This addresses substance abuse and violence prevention. It is a comprehensive,
dynamic, and developmentally designed program to promote positive youth
development. In addition to helping kids resist drug, alcohol, and tobacco use,
the program also effectively supports the reduction of violence
and other high-risk behaviors. So far in
the 2018-19 school year 97% of the 7th-grade students have completed the Level
I Life Skills Curriculum. Also, the
first two groups of 8th-grade students have completed the Level II Curriculum
and the third group has begun the 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 at local libraries; on the SAFE Coalition’s Facebook pages, Website,
and Blog; on the Billboard in Keosauqua; and posters and electronic billboard
ads at the Van Buren Community Middle/High School. During the summer of 2019
the coalition plans to have the campaign displayed in poster form at
convenience stores, the Keosauqua Pool, Local Baseball Parks, and at Lacey
Keosauqua State Park. During this school
year the Youth Leadership Council members have helped by placing the media
campaign ads on their personal social media accounts to reach their peers with
the message. The coalition will continue
to work with local media outlets to ensure youth are exposed to the media
campaign.
5) Social Host Ordinance: A
Social Host Ordinance addresses the problem of people knowingly providing a
place for underage drinking to happen.
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.
Coalition members are attending community meetings to help educate
community members about the ordinance, about 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.
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