Youth Substance Use Prevention
Youth Substance Use Prevention – Community Led Youth Resilience and Prevention Efforts
Preventing youth substance use is a community wide effort! Southwest District Health is the recipient of the Partnerships for Success Grant (PFS), for communities, from Department of Health and Human Services through the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
SWDH utilizes this grant to support locally led initiatives to prevent youth alcohol, marijuana, and stimulant use and to promote positive youth mental well-being with a focus on youth aged 10-19. The PFS grant prioritizes partnering to serve rural and frontier regions, Spanish speaking populations, and populations who qualify as ALICE (asset limited income constrained and employed).
The goal of this work is to support community partners in building capacity in their substance use prevention efforts by providing funding, technical assistance, and resources.
On this page, you’ll find funding and training opportunities, and information about projects that the PFS grant is working on or has supported. You’ll also find resources and tools that you can use to support young people in choosing to be substance free.
Prevention Resources for Professionals
- ADAPT Prevention Intervention Resource Center
- Idaho Office of Drug Policy Prevention Resource Library
- Prevention Technology Transfer Center Network
Training Opportunity
Want to improve your ability to talk to adolescents about substance use? Request a “How to talk to adolescents about substance use” SBIRT training for your youth-serving organization by completing this brief application.
If you’re a community member who is interested in partnering on a project to prevent youth substance use in your community, please contact the Partnerships for Success project coordinator Tara Woodward at tara.woodward@swdh.id.gov
Visit us at https://swdh.myshopify.com to find free community health resources that will support your organization, your family, or your coalition!
Funding Opportunity
Youth Alcohol, Marijuana, and Stimulant Substance Use Prevention Mini-Grants Subgrant Solicitation
Southwest District Health (SWDH) is soliciting for applications for Partnerships for Success, Youth Alcohol, Marijuana, and Stimulant Substance Use Prevention Mini-Grants. The purpose of this grant is to support local communities in their efforts to reduce youth substance use. Eligible opportunities for funding must be community-led initiatives to implement evidence-based substance use prevention programs, and to implement environmental and/or policy changes that address community specific need. These projects must directly address the prevention of alcohol, marijuana, and/or stimulant use amongst youth aged 10-19. The goal of this funding opportunity is to: Increase district wide community capacity to prevent youth substance use by providing trainings, evidence-informed prevention curricula and projects, and youth, parent, and community education.
Read the full solicitation here and apply for funding here! Applications will be accepted as funding remains available.
Application period to open in August 2024 with funding to be awarded in October.
For questions, please contact Tara Woodward via email at tara.woodward@swdh.id.gov or by phone at (208) 477-4998.
Priority Applications are due September 2 at 5 pm
- Marsing, Southwest Idaho Communities for Youth
- How to talk to youth about substance use SBIRT trainings
- Positive Action
- 3rd Millennium Prevention & Intervention Program
- Community Education Events
- Youth Support Groups
- Active Parenting of Teams
- Planet Youth, New Meadows and Tri-Valley
- Distribution of Prescription Drug Disposal Pouches and Medication Lockboxes
- Be the Parents campaign and educational information dissemination
- Youth Mental Health Screening and Referrals
- Caldwell Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council Sticker Shock Campaign
- Botvin Lifeskills for Parents Community Classes
- DITEP Trainings
- Tall Cop Says Stop “High in Plain Sight” Drug Trends Presentation
- Outlast ID Campaign
While youth substance use has declined over the years, there is still work to be done to bring those numbers down further. We know this because in 2021, youth in western Idaho reported that:
- 34% have had at least 1 drink of alcohol
- 13% used marijuana
- 10% misused prescription drugs
- 18% used a vape pen or e-cigarette
- .6% used methamphetamines
Underage Alcohol Consumption:
Youth most often report drinking alcohol at home (54%), and getting alcohol from a friend (41%), or family member (37%) for free.
Marijuana:
Youth report smoking (82%), vaporizing (34%), or dabbing (36%) marijuana. They most often get it for free from a friend or family member (44%). Others report buying it (29%) or taking it (13%) from a family member or friend. 14% report buying it from a marijuana dispensary, and 30% purchased from a dealer or stranger.
Methamphetamines:
Youth who misused prescriptions most often used them at home (74%), and either were given (16%), or took them (21%) from a family member or friend. 52% reported misusing their own prescription, and 23% reported getting them “some other way”.
Risk Factors for Substance Use:
14.9% of youth reported that they felt depressed in the last 30 days, and 17% considered suicide in the past year.
Parents are one of the strongest protective factors against youth substance use. Youth reported that in the past 12 months, 60% had spoken with their parents/caregivers about the dangers of tobacco, alcohol, or drug use. In the past 6 months, only 48% of youth reported having a discussion with their parents about specific things they could do to stay away from drugs, and 54% had discussed family rules or expectations about using drugs.
*Data from the 2021, Idaho Healthy Youth Survey. Survey respondents are high school students (6th, 8th grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade), and lived in Health District 3 and 4.
If you are interested in collaborating with us to prevent and reduce substance use in your community, please contact Tara Woodward, at tara.woodward@phd3.idaho.gov or (208) 477-4998.
If you are interested in requesting prescription drug disposal pouches, prescription lockboxes, or other substance use prevention materials, please make a request here.