KDADS

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) on Monday announced grantees for Partnership for Success 2015 (PFS 2015). Grantees will use these funds to address the problems of underage drinking in their communities.

The four Kansas coalitions awarded the PFS 2015 underage drinking prevention grants include Woodson County Interagency Coalition, Live Well Live Atchison, Liberal Area Coalition for Families and the Ness County Coalition.

The PFS 2015 grant was designed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “To prevent and reduce underage drinking, both past-30-day alcohol use, binge drinking among youth and young adults aged 12-20, and to prevent and reduce the incidence and prevalence of prescription drug abuse and misuse among individuals aged 18-25 in high-risk, high need, sub-recipient communities and pilot areas across the state.”

“This new federal funding allows KDADS to broaden its current prevention efforts targeting youth abuse. Nearly 17 percent of all Kansas 6th, 8th, 10 th and 12th graders reported drinking in the past 30 days in the most recent Kansas Communities That Care student survey,” KDADS Interim Secretary Tim Keck said. “The data clearly demonstrates the need to continue to work with local communities to prevent and reduce substance abuse, which leads to multiple harmful consequences.”

“This grant funding offers our state some great new opportunities to address what are very serious problems. We look forward to seeing the positive community outcomes that our grantees will be able to achieve over the next five years,” said Sarah Fischer, Director of Prevention and Promotion Services at KDADS.

Andrea Clements, Executive Director of Live Well Live Atchison echoed Fischer’s enthusiasm. “We are excited to have received PFS funding which will help kick start a community conversation regarding underage drinking. These funds will allow Live Well Live Atchison to partner with the community on underage drinking prevention efforts and initiatives,” she said.

The coalitions awarded grants are ready to move into the implementation phase of their programs with sustainable plans that incorporate the Strategic Prevention Framework’s guidance and evidence-based strategies. They will be supported in their efforts by KDADS and its partners in the Kansas Prevention Collaborative (KPC). All four community prevention coalitions participated in an orientation training June 15-16 to learn more about the PFS 2015 project, the Strategic Prevention Framework and the resources that are available to them through KDADS, DCCCA, Greenbush, the KU Work Group and the Community Engagement Institute.

About the Kansas Prevention Collaborative

The Kansas Prevention Collaborative was created in 2015 in an effort to integrate and innovate behavioral health prevention efforts. A partnership of several different state, educational and provider agencies, the KPC’s goal is to expand prevention efforts to be more inclusive of mental health promotion, suicide prevention and problem gambling education and awareness, as well as to increase the availability of resources to adequately fund local-level prevention and promotion strategic plans. For more information, see https://www.kdads.ks.gov/commissions/behavioral-health/consumers-and-families/services-and-programs/kpc

The KPC’s new website can be viewed here: https://kansaspreventioncollaborative.org.