Drug-Free Communities Support Program

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), today released the FY2012 Drug Free Communities Request for Applications (RFA).

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will host three workshops to assist potential applicants in completing their FY2012 Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) Request for Applications (RFA). One of the workshops will be held in National Harbor, Md. the day following CADCA’s 22nd Annual National Leadership Forum on Feb. 10. Why not attend both to save money?

On Tuesday, the new Congressional Youth Drug Prevention Caucus, led by Congressman Sandy Levin (I-Mich.) and Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) held its very first briefing on the Drug Free Communities (DFC) Program. The panel included CADCA's Chairman and CEO, Gen. Arthur T. Dean, Benjamin Tucker of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Hilarie Chambers of Congressman Sandy Levin's office, Greg Puckett, Executive Director of Community Connections, Inc., and Sue Thau, CADCA's Public Policy Consultant.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced $12.3 million in new Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) grants to 87 communities and 20 new DFC Mentoring grants across the country. The awards announced this week are in addition to the nearly $76 million in Continuation grants simultaneously released to 607 currently funded DFC coalitions and twelve DFC Mentoring Continuation coalitions. These grants provide community coalitions needed support to prevent and reduce youth substance use.

This week, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released its 2011 National Drug Control Strategy. In it, substance abuse prevention is emphasized as “the most cost-effective, common-sense approach to promoting safe and healthy communities” and “the Drug Free Communities program is recognized as a program that has demonstrated effective, community-based prevention strategies by collaborating and leveraging important prevention work being done at the community level.”

Laura Hosley, Prevention Manager for Working Together for Wellness, a CADCA-member coalition in North Kingstown, R.I., testified in Congress on Tuesday during a hearing about the prescription drug epidemic. The hearing, which was called by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, brought together national and local experts to discuss solutions to the abuse, misuse and diversion of prescription drugs.

The Senate is currently circulating a dear colleague letter in support of funding the Drug Free Communities (DFC) program at the highest possible level for FY 2012. If you haven't already, please click here to respond to the legislative alert that CADCA sent out to ask your Senators to make a funding level of $95 million for the DFC program one of their top appropriations priorities for FY 2012.

Our collective advocacy for funding the Drug Free Communities (DFC) program at $95 million in FY 2011 paid off, and the program was not cut! Congress is currently working on the FY 2012 budget, and your advocacy is needed again NOW. You can help ensure that funding for the DFC program does not stall out by clicking HERE to ask members of Congress to make a funding level of $95 million for the program one of their top appropriations priorities for FY 2012.

When CADCA issued an alert earlier this year that the Drug Free Communities (DFC) program had been slated for a $9.5 million cut, the field responded in force, sending nearly 3,000 faxes to Capitol Hill to ask Congress to restore the funds. These efforts, along with the advocacy efforts of CADCA, paid off. Funding for the DFC program has been fully restored to $95 million for FY 2011.

Earlier this year, CADCA issued a request for outcomes to all Drug-Free Communities grantees. The deadline to submit these outcomes has been extended to April 9th. Given the fact that the DFC program is currently facing a potential cut, it is more important now than ever to submit these outcomes.

It is critical that all coalitions who were considering submitting applications for the Drug Free Communities program RFA that is due on March 18th actually do so. This will demonstrate that there continues to be a high demand for the DFC program and will help ensure that the program is funded at the highest possible levels in both FY 2011 and FY 2012.

The House recently passed its version of the FY 2011 Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year. The House-passed CR cuts the Drug Free Communities program by $9.5 million, from $95 million to $85.5 million. If this cut becomes a reality, it means there will only be enough funding to support 7 new grants from the current grant solicitation that closes on March 18. The Senate has not yet passed its version of the CR, so there is still time to weigh in to try to get this money restored. If you haven't already, please respond to CADCA's legislative alert as soon as possible and mobilize others to do the same.
 

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), last week announced the availability of new Drug Free Communities (DFC) Support Program funding. ONDCP expects to award approximately $9.35 million for 75 new competing grants to support the efforts of community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance use among youth. To help those interested in applying for a grant, ONDCP is hosting an applicant workshop on Friday, Feb. 11, following CADCA's 21st annual National Leadership Forum.

Many community coalitions are not legal entities and, thus, must utilize an outside agency as their fiscal agent or grantee for federal grant funding applications. This is especially applicable to community coalitions applying for Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFC) funding and many of the current DFC grantees. When not properly negotiated, the fiscal agent/coalition relationship can be challenging. To help coalitions better manage this relationship, CADCA's National Coalition Institute will host a webinar Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. EST.