Safe Yakima Valley Communities Gets Big Grant Dollars

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has awarded a $625,000 grant to assist in the drug prevention activities of the Safe Yakima Valley Communities coalition.

The “Drug-Free Communities Support Program” grant is designed to help facilitate citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. The funding will provide the local group with $125,000 for each of the grant’s five years.

The grant will be used to collect local data to help the coalition develop strategies to reduce drug use, with a focus on reducing alcohol and marijuana use among area youths. The research from the local group’s work will be used to develop anti-drug education campaigns and programs aimed at schools, parents, and area communities. The group’s three-year goal through these efforts is to produce a reduction in marijuana use among high school students, increase the number of young teens who perceive alcohol and marijuana use as a great risk, and increase parental education and disapproval about alcohol and marijuana use.

Safe Yakima Valley Communities is one of just three awardees in the state to share in the $12.3 million in the national funding of the Drug-Free Communities Support Program grants. The local coalition is one of 87 new grantees that were selected from 452 nationwide applicants through a competitive, peer-reviewed process.