Youth Services Alliance Inc

STENGTHEN THE CASS COUNTY (IN) SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION COALITION VIA DFC FUNDING - THE CASS COUNTY SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION COALITION, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF YOUTH SERVICES ALLIANCE (YSA) AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS, WILL LAUNCH ITS CASS COUNTY DRUG-FREE COMMUNITIES (DFC) PROJECT BEGINNING DECEMBER 31, 2020, TO PROMOTE POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY RESILIENCE IN THE TEN ZIP CODES THAT COMPRISE CASS COUNTY, INDIANA. THE PROJECT SERVES TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR COLLABORATIVE, BILINGUAL PREVENTION INITIATIVES AND COMMUNITY-BASED ADVOCACY. THESE INITIATIVES WILL CREATE A SAFE SPACE FOR DIALOGUE ABOUT GENERATIONAL CYCLES OF SUBSTANCE USE AND ADDICTION ASSOCIATED WITH ADVERSE DEVELOPMENTAL FACTORS AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES IN THE COUNTY. THE PROJECT WILL STRENGTHEN THE EXISTING COALITION BY LINKING COMMUNITIES AS LARGE AS LOGANSPORT (POPULATION EST. 18,300) AND AS SMALL AS WALTON AND ONWARD (POPULATION EST. 1,100 AND 100, RESPECTIVELY) WITH RESOURCES SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO HELP YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES ADAPT TO STRESSORS AND CHANGE NORMS. WITH A POPULATION OF NEARLY 40,000, AND A MEDIAN AGE OF 40, CASS COUNTY IS EXPERIENCING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DECLINE INCREASINGLY TYPICAL OF AGING RURAL COMMUNITIES. THIRTEEN PERCENT OF RESIDENTS LIVE AT OR BELOW THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL (STATSINDIANA, INDIANA INDEPTH PROFILE FROM 2010 U.S. CENSUS, 2018 U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS). PER CAPITA INCOME IS AN ESTIMATED $38,788, AND NEARLY ONE OUT OF EVERY 5 CHILDREN UNDER AGE 18 LIVE IN POVERTY (THE ANNIE E. CASEY KIDS COUNT DATA CENTER, 2008-2017). THESE DATA ARE NOT ATYPICAL OF CENTRAL INDIANA, CASS COUNTY BEING ADJACENT TO SIX OTHER COUNTIES WHOSE BOUNDARIES ARE SIMILARLY SHAPED BY AGRIBUSINESS MONOCULTURE FARMING AND TRANSPORTATION ROUTES, BUT IN FACT CASS COUNTY?S DATA ARE ALARMINGLY PREDICTIVE OF RURAL COMMUNITIES STRUGGLING WITH SUBSTANCE MISUSE AS A HARBINGER OF CULTURAL SHIFTS. WHAT DOES MAKE CASS COUNTY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER RURAL COMMUNITIES IN INDIANA IS IMMIGRATION, PRIMARILY HISPANIC AND BURMESE, INFLUENCED BY TYSON FOODS AND OTHER MEAT PROCESSORS. THE COUNTY IS APPROXIMATELY 79% WHITE, 16% HISPANIC/LATINO, AND 5% AFRICAN AMERICAN AND ASIAN. AN ESTIMATED 23% IS UNDER 18 YEARS OLD AND 18% WHO ARE 65 AND OLDER. THE COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS FRAMEWORK PUTS CASS COUNTY IN THE BOTTOM 15TH PERCENTILE FOR HEALTH OUTCOMES IN INDIANA (COUNTY HEALTH RANKINGS, 2020). AMONG ADULTS, EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION (16%) AND TOBACCO/NICOTINE USE (21%) EXCEED STATE AND NATIONAL RATES (WITH INDICATIONS OF UPWARD TRENDS SINCE 2013 FOR THE COUNTY). AN ESTIMATED 11.5 PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO ARE PREGNANT SMOKE (INDIANA STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 2019). NEARLY 30% OF SURVEYED ADULTS REPORTED THEIR LIVES HAVE BEEN NEGATIVELY INFLUENCED BY SUBSTANCE USE (PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH CONSULTANTS, CASS COUNTY COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT, 2016). CASS COUNTY SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION COALITION HAS MADE IT A PRIORITY TO STAY INVOLVED IN EFFORTS THAT WORK ON BUILDING A BETTER, HEALTHIER, AND SAFER COMMUNITY. THE COALITION WAS FORMED IN 2016, BUT PREVENTION EFFORTS BEGAN LONG BEFORE THAT. YSA HAS BEEN RECEIVING DMHA FUNDING FOR NEARLY 22 YEARS, AND IN 2016 YOUTH SERVICES ALLIANCE (YSA) RECEIVED FEDERAL FUNDING FROM A PARTNERSHIP FOR SUCCESS (PFS) GRANT. YSA AND PARTNERS HAVE FOCUSED ON STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THE RISK, PROTECTIVE AND CONTRIBUTING FACTORS, NAMELY: TO IMPROVE THE PERCEPTION OF HARM FROM ALCOHOL USE, TO REDUCE SOCIAL AVAILABILITY OF ALCOHOL, TO REDUCE FAMILY CONFLICT, TO IMPROVE SCHOOL COMMITMENT, AND TO PROMOTE YOUTH RECOGNITION OF PROSOCIAL INVOLVEMENT.DFC FUNDS WILL ALLOW THE COALITION TO CONCENTRATE EFFORTS ON ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO/NICOTINE USE. AN ESTIMATED 6,500 YOUTH AND 7,000 HOUSEHOLDS WILL BENEFIT FROM THE CASS COUNTY DFC PROJECT AS A RESULT OF ANNUAL POPULATION-BASED SURVEYS; EDUCATION INITIATIVES ON RETAILER COMPLIANCE AND MEDIA LITERACY; TAILORED OUTREACH RECOGNIZING PREVENTION SUCCESSES TO CELEBRATE; AND YOUTH TRAINING OPPORTUNITIE