FY 200 Continuation Drug Free Communities Support Program

The Town of Amherst is the fiscal agent for the Amherst Community Partnership (ACP) Coalition. The geographical boundaries of the target area served by the coalition include the towns of Amherst, Pelham, Shutsbury, and Leverett, located in central Massachusetts. The total population of this area is 34,874 and the population of school age children is 10,144. The goals of the coalition are to: 1) build community consensus around the norms of a drug-free community and 2) implement strategies to reduce the rates of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use among youth in Amherst. The ACP will achieve these goals by implementing the following strategies:
1) address sensation-seeking youth and expand the range of after-school and summer activities to include students who are not now participating;
2) focus attention on peer and community attitudes toward drug use and family communication of clear norms against use;
3) conduct intervention by hosting
"Challenge Day", an initiative designed to build the capacity of adolescents and adults to reduce violence, alienation and intolerance at school, at home, and in the community;
4) support youth/parent programs that develop resiliency skills against AOD use; 5) using data from the parent and student surveys, conduct a social norms marketing media campaign that encourages parents to set clear, no-use messages and to monitor their teen's activities and whereabouts; and
6) administer and evaluate the parent and youth surveys in the spring of 2005.
CA/NCF