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 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 for the strategies with the most positive results, 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 has worked with local law enforcement and IDPH to provide training on how to enforce these new policies. 

2) Alcohol Restrictions in Public Places: Currently, one town has a written no alcohol allowed policy for their ballpark and will be hanging signs at the ballpark that no alcohol is allowed.  One town is allowing the coalition to participate in a community event planning committee that will set policy for their community events and the committee is considering the creation of an alcohol restriction policy.  One town decided to not write a policy but is hanging information at their park about not providing alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 at the park.  Another town may implement an alcohol restriction policy for its new sports complex and baseball fields. The coalition is working with them to create and implement the policy.  The coalition continues to work to find ways to work with the towns that have said they are not interested in an alcohol restriction policy.  The coalition has worked with local law enforcement and IDPH to provide training on how to enforce these new policies. 

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.  During the 2018-19 school year, 97% of the 7th and 8th-grade students completed the Life Skills Curriculum.  There was also a 7% increase in the students reporting on the pre/posttests that they would definitely and probably would say no when someone tries to get them to drink beer, wine, or liquor. 

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 at the Van Buren Community Middle/High School.  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.  During the summer of 2019, the coalition has worked to have the campaign displayed in poster form at local convenience stores, the Keosauqua Pool, Local Baseball Parks, and at Lacey Keosauqua State Park. 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.  They have also begun to collect signatures on a petition of support for a social host ordinance to submit to the Van Buren County Board of Supervisors.