CADCA Members Participate in Capitol Hill Briefing about Key Funding Concerns

On Monday, Congressmen Sander Levin (D-12th/MI) and Mark Souder (R-3rd/IN) hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill to generate greater interest and support among Members of Congress and their staff for the Drug Free Communities (DFC) and the State Grants portion of Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC).

The briefing, entitled Communities, Schools, and Congress: Working Together to Deal with Drugs, featured CADCA Chairman and CEO Gen. Arthur T. Dean; and CADCA members Doug Hall, Senior Vice President of Pride Surveys and Katherine Allen, Coordinator of Community Coalition for Teens, of the Franklin County Communities that Care coalition in Greenfield, Mass. Other speakers included: Hilarie Chambers of Congressman Sander Levin’s staff; Martin Green of Congressman Mark Souder’s staff; and Mona Johnson, Director, Learning and Teaching Support from the OSPI Washington State School Safety Center. The speakers provided Capitol Hill staff with an in depth look at current drug trends and the inner workings of both DFC and SDFSC Programs.

Doug Hall provided attendees with an overview of current drug abuse levels and usage trends in the United States, while tying in the importance of funding the DFC and SDFSC programs. Katherine Allen, a current DFC grantee, provided a detailed explanation of how her community coalition uniquely organized their community to combat drug and alcohol abuse, at the same time pointing out how their coalition works with the local SDFSC program. Mona Johnson described how the SDFSC program plays an integral role in reducing substance use among youth by reaching them in schools, both locally and nationally, and again how the program complements and coordinates with the DFC program.

Hilarie Chambers and Martin Green reiterated the importance of these two programs, and also described how congressional staff and Members of Congress can benefit from congressional involvement. General Dean closed by giving an overview of CADCA and all of its services, and inviting congressional staff and Members of Congress to become more involved.