Identifying Effective Environmental Strategies

OJJDP's Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation (FIRE) Program supports methodologically rigorous research and evaluation studies that inform policy and practice consistent with the Department of Justice's mission. OJJDP is funding field-initiated studies to understand the factors that influence the prevention of underage drinking, the enforcement of underage drinking laws, and individuals' and communities' attitudes and behaviors about underage drinking. The FY 2012 EUDL FIRE Program is authorized by the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 112-55, 125 Stat. 552, 617.

The purpose of the proposed study is to enhance our understanding of the environmental strategies that are most effective in changing alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors of underage youth. The study has two major phases. In the first phase ICF will build a relational database that includes: a) all EUDL block grant activities implemented by States from 1998-present (documented in performance measures submitted to OJJDP by States and validated and made more complete through extensive follow-up communication of the study team with EUDL State coordinators); b) alcohol-related outcomes from extant sources (e.g., national surveys of youth, campus liquor law violations, traffic accidents); and, c) relevant community-level covariates across the same time period. In the second phase ICF will use the database to test specific hypotheses about the relationship between EUDL interventions and youth outcomes within and across States, while controlling for shifts in the population demographics. Study results will be used to inform policy and practice through a resource manual describing which strategies are evidence-based and achieve success in influencing youth outcomes. ICF will disseminate findings to the field through a final report and peer-reviewed publications. Progress towards achieving these study goals will be monitored by quarterly reports to OJJDP.
CA/NCF