CARES receives continuation grant

Dubois Co.- Dubois County CARES was awarded a FY2022 Drug-Free Communities Support Program- Competing Continuation grant in the amount of $125,000 by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The goals of CARES (Coalition for Adolescent Resilience and Empowerment Strategies) are to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing a strengths-based approach, addressing areas of concern using data specific to youth use and general parental attitudes of acceptance of youth alcohol use. 

Through the use of strategic partnerships and relationships with local youth-serving partners, justice system stakeholders, treatment providers, community groups, businesses, and volunteers, CARES will focus on providing various forms of training and information distribution to coalition members, parents, community members, and youth regarding effective coalition strategies, the strategic prevention framework data, and provide them with useful tools to empower youth to be alcohol and drug free. 

“We intend to partner with schools to support their social and emotional learning curriculum,” a coalition spokesperson said, “support the enforcement of the legal drinking age at local festivals, optimize the campaign materials utilized by the coalition by including Spanish print options, and empower our youth through a positive ticketing campaign.”

CARES’ fiscal agent for the new grant is the Southwestern Indiana Child Advocacy Coalition Center. The coalition is located in Federal Congressional District 8, Indiana Senate District 48 and Indiana House District 63. CARES serves Dubois County, Indiana, a community of 43,549.

For more information about Dubois County CARES, visit www.DuboisCountyCARES.org. Contact the coalition at [email protected] or 812-827-8464. For information about the Southwestern Indiana Child Advocacy Coalition Center, visit http://swicacc.com/.