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\u201cThe Coalition for Healthy & Safe Communities serves communities throughout Sussex County,\u201d said the coalition\u2019s Executive Director Becky Carlson.<\/strong> \u201cSussex County is unique because it is an all-rural area, made up of 142,000 people in 24 municipalities, 26 school districts and 11 police departments. The Sussex County Coalition for Healthy & Safe Communities was founded by concerned local citizens in 1998 to support healthy youth development and protect against problem behaviors in adolescence by reducing risk factors and enhancing protective factors in children\u2019s lives. In its 20+ years of existence, the coalition has become a well-recognized resource for schools, parents, students, community members and the media looking for information and programs about alcohol and other drugs; including signs, symptoms, effects, current local trends and prevention tools.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the main priorities the Coalition for Healthy & Safe Communities focuses on is underage drinking,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cAlcohol is the number one substance used among adolescents in our community, and underage drinking prevention efforts are part of our coalition\u2019s larger substance use prevention efforts. It is important to ensure underage drinking prevention does not become lost and remains at the top of our prevention agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne activity that remains a constant in our underage drinking prevention efforts is in April for Alcohol Awareness Month (AAM),\u201d said Carlson. \u201cThere are many elements that contribute to the success of Alcohol Awareness Month, and one of these events is our annual town hall meeting.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year leading up to AAM we sponsor our annual underage drinking awareness PSA contest for youth,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cEach year we pick a new theme the youth use to develop a PSA to submit. At the AAM town hall meeting the contest winners, whose entries range from posters to radio and videos PSAs, are honored. All the parents and families in the county are invited to attend the town hall meeting. Along with presentations from our youth in the community on underage drinking, other coalition members are invited to present, along with presentations from our county prosecutor, local law enforcement and senator.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe coalition\u2019s prevention initiatives \u2013 including our Alcohol Awareness Month town hall meeting \u2013 point to a finding known as the \u201815-5-21\u2019 rule, drawn from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services report,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cThe rule states that youth who drink before age 15 are five to seven times more likely than those who start drinking after age 21 to develop alcohol problems such as binge drinking or alcohol dependence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOften, meaningful results take time,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cWhile we started our town hall meetings in 2008, it wasn\u2019t until 2015 when we started to see a significant decrease in underage drinking. What our statistics can\u2019t portray is that more prevention efforts and conversations are taking place as a result of the town hall meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeveral members of our coalition attended CADCA\u2019s National Leadership Forum this year,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cWe brought back new strategies and interventions to our community to help prevent underage drinking. As trends are constantly changing, it is important to make sure we are up to date with the latest information to aim towards successful implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKeeping up with the trends and resources in your community is always important,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cThis allows us to speak clearly to the community about the issues we are seeing throughout the county. Utilizing the Strategic Prevention Framework helps us to stay on track and make sure we are executing our strategies in the best possible way. Relationships are what drive our work, making sure to connect with various sectors, supporting existing and nurturing new coalition members empowers each of them to be able to sustain healthy communities. A community problem needs a community solution and in our county the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Communities is a positive force.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe Coalition for Healthy & Safe Communities serves communities throughout Sussex County,\u201d said the coalition\u2019s Executive Director Becky Carlson. \u201cSussex<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13486,"template":"","resource_type":[281],"drug_specific_issues":[],"action_to_do":[],"class_list":["post-17210","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-coalitions-online"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n