Funding

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for up to a four year total of $15.6 million to fund STOP Act grants aimed at preventing alcohol use among underage youth in communities across the nation.

If the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction fails to reach an agreement on how to trim $1.2 trillion from the federal budget, the proposed across-the-board spending cuts could have a detrimental effect on drug abuse demand reduction programs. That’s the finding of a new brief by Carnevale Associates.

Earlier this week, the House and Senate created a “minibus” bill, which wraps three FY 2012 appropriations bills into one. The three appropriations bills include: (1) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) (2) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, and (3) Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. The conference report for the minibus indicates that the bill contains $5 million in FY 2012 funding for the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program.

The full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the FY 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHSE) Appropriations Bill last week. This bill includes the funding for SAMHSA. The following is a chart detailing the funding levels for programs of interest to our field:

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.

After months of negotiations, Congress passed legislation this week that would raise the debt ceiling and implement more than $2.1 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. President Obama signed the bill into law on Tuesday. Now more than ever, it is critical that our field mobilizes to educate members of Congress, especially the 12 members who will serve on the “super committee” created to identify at least $1.5 trillion in additional cuts by December 2nd.

CADCA would like to let you know of a new funding opportunity. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week the availability of more than $100 million in funding for up to 75 Community Transformation Grants.

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.
 

As many of you are aware, the government is operating under a Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011, which expires on March 4th. Congress is currently working to pass a new Continuing Resolution (CR) before the March 4th deadline. In the meantime, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request on February 14th.