South Berkshire Youth Coalition
The South Berkshire Youth Coalition was formed in 2001 in response to a series of drug and alcohol-related deaths of young people. Over the course of 3 years, 15 youth died from suicides, drug overdoses and alcohol-related car accidents. Railroad Street Youth Project, with Community Health Programs as fiscal agent, applied for and was awarded a federal grant on behalf of the South Berkshire Youth Coalition in order to fund the Coalition's prevention efforts. We have since come under the umbrella of Community Health Programs as one of their supported programs. We are now in our 7th year of operation. SBYC participates in the "Drug Free Communities" (DFC) program sponsored by SAMHSA/ONDCP. A recent study show that rates of current substance abuse by high school students in communities participating in the DFC program are significantly lower than national rates. To view the complete report, please visit www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/dfc
The mission of SBYC is to reduce substance abuse among youth in a long-term and sustainable manner by addressing the factors in our community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse. In order to achieve this, the Coalition promotes the use of a cross-sectoral community approach, one that is based on the belief that substance abuse is the product of multiple environmental conditions and circumstances. According to this view, individuals do not engage in substance abuse solely on the basis of personal characteristics, but rather as a result of a complex set of factors in their environment. It is our belief that prevention, if it is to prove effective, must exist in all areas of community life.
Check it out! Two Radio Stories Of Note
Intervening with Teen Drinking: http//www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102218515&sc=emaf.
Ers Report Rise in Binge Drinking By Teens: http//www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101395909&sc=emaf.
Community Surveys
SBYC is continuing to ask community members to administer our anonymous surveys regarding the nature of substance use in South County to fellow community members. Once completed you can either drop them off at our office at 94 West Ave or mail them. To download one or all of our community surveys on Tobacco, Marijuana, alcohol, and other drugs please click here: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=121239ed567f45508ef1259ff1b60e81c381cabc5c454792b8eada0a1ae8665a.
Contact Us
94 West Avenue
Great Barrington, MA 01230
413-528-1919
sbycoalition@yahoo.com
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