OVERVIEW
Funding to County Prevention Partnerships across WV continues for local substance abuse prevention efforts. Governor Joe Manchin announced in October 2008 the third year of federally-funded prevention grant awards, which total more than $1.8 million dollars, to the following 17 counties: Barbour, Cabell, Calhoun, Doddridge, Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mercer, Mingo, Morgan, Ohio, Pocahontas, Raleigh, Randolph, and Wood. The counties are highest in need in regard to substance abuse related issues and appropriately equipped to tackle their local concerns. County Prevention Partnerships in each of these counties will use the funds to continue grassroots prevention initiatives such as media campaigns to raise community awareness of substance abuse related issues, parenting programs, retailer stings to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors, school-based curriculum such as the Too Good For Drugs Program, and community-based programs such as Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol.
BACKGROUND
The source of the grants is a federal Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) awarded to WV in 2004. The five-year, more than 11 million dollar federal grant is intended to build prevention capacity and infrastructure at the state and local levels; prevent the onset and reduce the progress of substance abuse including childhood and underage drinking; and reduce substance abuse and substance abuse-related problems in communities.
Most of WV’s SPF SIG funding has been re-awarded to support local sub-grantee prevention activity planning and implementation. Early in 2006, prevention planning grants were awarded to entities in each of the 53 counties that applied. Since then, counties have attended Regional Learning Opportunities and developed their County Prevention Partnerships and county-wide prevention plans.
In the meantime, The WV Partnership To Promote Community Well-Being developed a data-driven process/plan for distributing prevention implementation grants in WV. This process is best described as a “highest need” planning model. Counties of highest need with regard to problems associated with substance abuse were identified with a Substance Abuse Well-Being Index (SAWB). The SAWB was developed from a comprehensive repository of epidemiological indicators including substance abuse consumption and consequence data. The data were then used to inform the WV Partnership’s recommendations to the Governor regarding WV SPF SIG grant awards these past several years.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Complete details about WV's SPF SIG Implementation are available in WV SPF SIG Strategic Implementation Plan Phase I (pdf); WV SPF SIG Strategic Implementation Plan Phase II; and WV SPF SIG Phase I Evaluation.