43
County boards get grant money for drug prevention
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services boards were awarded a combined $921,911 over the next three years by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
The area county agencies were among 13 county alcohol- and drug-prevention organizations that received a combined $6.2 million in grants ODADAS aimed at helping communities develop plans to reduce the incidence of alcohol, illicit drug or prescription drug abuse among 18- to 25-year-olds.
Mahoning County ADAS will receive $446,765 and Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, $475,146.
Mahoning County ADAS will spend the money, in collaboration with other community alcohol and drug services agencies and Youngstown State University, to develop a drug and alcohol use prevention plan for the target-age group, said Michael Senchak, MCADAS executive director.
Columbiana County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, through its Family Recovery Center, plans to focus primarily on high-risk use of alcohol, said Judy Hawkins, education supervisor at the Center, which is the fiscal agent for the grant.
“We will do a needs- assessment to identify where the most high-risk behavior is and then conduct an awareness campaign to try and get the message out and decrease the number who engage in binge drinking. I think, in this county, we need to increase the number of people who perceive the risk of alcohol use,” Hawkins said.
The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services said the money comes from the federal Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant process, focuses on community needs assessment and development of environmental strategies known to be effective in substance-abuse prevention.