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 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 final year of the IPFS Project the coalition continued to build capacity, built sustainability for the strategies with the most positive results, evaluated the work completed, and implemented the five strategies it was funded to work on as follows:  

1) Alcohol Restrictions at Community Events at Privately Owned Facilities: The coalition worked 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 the year the coalition members continued to work with three of the ten facilities in Van Buren County to encourage implementation of alcohol restrictions policies.  None of these implemented a new policy.  Four of the ten facilities had 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 worked with local law enforcement and IDPH to provide training on how to enforce these new policies. 

2) Alcohol Restrictions in Public Places: One town has a written no alcohol allowed policy for their ballpark and will be hanging signage that states the new policy.  One town allowed the coalition to participate in a community event planning committee, but no new policy was written for their community events.  One town decided to not write a policy but hung information at their parks about not providing alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 at the parks.  Another town considered an alcohol restriction policy for their new sports complex and baseball fields and then chose not to implement one at this time. The coalition 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.  The Life Skills program will continue to be implemented at the Van Buren County Community Middle School for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years per a Memorandum of Understanding the district signed with the SAFE Coalition.

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 has been 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 the 2019-20 school year the Youth Leadership Council members 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 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 would address the problem of people knowingly providing a place for underage drinking to happen in Van Buren County.  The coalition worked 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 attended 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 some signatures on a petition of support for a local social host ordinance to submit to the Van Buren County Board of Supervisors.  In the end, the coalition has not yet gained enough support to take the proposed ordinance back to the Board of Supervisors.  The coalition members still believe this is a tool that would be helpful in reducing underage drinking and binge drinking in Van Buren County.

State of Iowa’s Social Host Law

Beginning July 1, 2014, every police and sheriff’s department in Iowa had an additional tool to help reduce underage drinking: a social host law.

During the 2014 Iowa legislative session, through the efforts of numerous community members, prevention coalitions and Iowa legislators, the statewide social host law was sent to Governor Terry Branstad, who signed it into law. This means that when an adult knows youth17 years old or younger are drinking in their homes, buildings or on the property the adult owns, leasesor rents – and the adult does nothing to stop it – they can be charged with a simple misdemeanor and fined $200. The social host law does not apply to landlords/managers of such property or juveniles who lawfully handle alcohol in their employment, or their managers.

In the 2018 Iowa Youth Survey youth said obtaining alcohol at parties was the most common way for Van Buren County youth to obtain alcohol. Some local community activists have been promoting social host ordinances at the county and city level for a number of years to address this condition.

Preventing youth from experiencing the personal heartache that is a consequence of underage drinking – in the form of accidents, sexual assaults, violence, unplanned pregnancy or alcohol poisoning – will always be a worthwhile endeavor. The social host law is one more tool to reduce youth access to alcohol.

For more information on this law you may contact the SAFE Coalition at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.

Prescription Drug Take Backs

Prescription drug abuse is a concern in Iowa, due to the misuse of prescription painkillers (opioids), anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medicines, stimulants, and other medicines.  When not used as directed, controlled substances can lead to behavioral disorders, addiction, and even death.  This is also true of heroin, increasingly used by some as a substitute for opioid pain medicine.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take in your home and community to help prevent prescription and opioid drug abuse.  By monitoring your medicines at home and disposing of them in a safe manner (not flushing or putting them in the trash), you can prevent the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs and protect Iowa’s water supply.

You have three options to properly get rid of unneeded over the counter and prescription drugs locally as outlined below.

1.      “Take Back Kiosks” (BEST!): More than 90 local law enforcement centers and community pharmacies have established permanent Take Back collection boxes, and the number of sites is growing. The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office offers this service.  The Kiosk is in the entryway and is available during normal Sheriff’s Office hours.  This program allows you to dispose of all medications (prescription, over the counter, controlled and non-controlled).  It does NOT allow for the disposal of inhalers, sharps/needles or liquids. 

2.      “Iowa Pharmacy Association’s “Take Away” program” (Better): Lee Pharmacy has this program available for non-controlled substances.  Just stop into the pharmacy and they will be able to help you understand how their program works. 

3.      “Take Back Events” (Better…but you may have to wait): Twice each year, on a Saturday in the Spring and Fall, law enforcement agencies team up with local organizations in over 100 Iowa communities to sponsor a special one-day collection of unused medicines.  Details typically are provided closer to the dates of these events, but general information is available at the DEA's Website: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/.

For more information on how to dispose of your medications safely please contact the SAFE Coalition at 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org. 

Information provided by the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy.

SAFE Coalition Member Attends National Prevention Network Conference

The National Prevention Network conference was held August 27-29, 2019 at the Hilton Chicago. The conference was three days, complete with keynotes, breakouts, and networking opportunities. The conference theme for 2019 was Building on Evidence-Based Prevention to Connect Communities.

The National Prevention Network (NPN) Conference (formerly called the NPN Prevention Research Conference) has a long-standing history. The first conference was held in 1988 in Kansas City, Missouri and has been conducted on an annual basis ever since in various cities around the country. Over the years, the conference has grown in size, hosting 700-1,000 participants.

The National Prevention Network (NPN) Conference hosts federal, state and local professionals from the substance abuse prevention field and related disciplines. Participants included: prevention providers, school personnel, government agency representatives and directors, law enforcement personnel, policymakers, coalition leaders and members, counselors, health education specialists, social workers, and high school students.

The purpose of the National Prevention Network (NPN) Conference is to highlight the latest research in the substance abuse prevention field. It provides a forum for prevention professionals, coalition leaders, researchers, and federal partners to share research, best practices and promising evaluation results for the purpose of integrating research into prevention practice.

The SAFE Coalition participant attended the following sessions: High in Plain Sight: New, Current and Various Drug Trends; The Evolution of State Cannabis Policies and Where Prevention Fits In; Prevention and Older Adults: Don’t Forget About Us; Making the Case for Prevention’s Seat at the Table: A Historical and Empirical Perspective; A Blueprint for Cannabis Regulation: Lessons Learned from Alcohol; Teen Advocates: Our Most Valuable and Under-Utilized Resource: Leveraging a Teen Voice to Optimize Substance Use Prevention Efforts; Fentanyl 101: What Prevention Professionals Need to Know; Selecting and Implementing Evidence-Based Practices to Address Marijuana Use Among Women of Childbearing Age; Collaborating with Law Enforcement and Identifying Effective Law Enforcement Strategies to Reduce Underage Drinking; and Innovative Prevention Strategies and Policies to Reduce Youth Use of Electronic Delivery Devices (EDDs).  For more information on the SAFE Coalition please call 319-293-3334 ext. 1017 or email at safe.coalition@van-burencsd.org.