U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACF)/Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse, and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)

U.S. Department of Education/Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

Department of Justice/Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACF)/Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) -
FYSB is a grant-making agency within ACF that administers programs for runaway and homeless youth, victims of domestic violence, and children of prisoners.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

Underage drinking is not a separate issue that FYSB focuses on, however it is an issue addressed through their comprehensive youth programs reaching children at-risk for numerous problems, including substance abuse. All of the programs FYSB provides incorporate a positive youth development approach.

• Runaway and Homeless Youth Program: This program provides funding to local communities to support young people, particularly runaway and homeless youth, and their families through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. Basic Center Program (BCP) grants offer assistance to at-risk youth in need of immediate shelter. They provide family and youth counseling and refer them to services like substance abuse treatment. Through the Street Outreach Program (SOP), FYSB awards grants to private, nonprofit agencies to conduct outreach designed to build relationships between grantee staff and street youth. The goal of these efforts is to help young people leave the streets. Alcohol is not allowed at any of the FYSB grantee sites and it is expected that after participating in these programs, youth will be prepared to make better choices regarding alcohol use.

• Mentoring Children of Prisoners: FYSB supports the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program. The living conditions, family configurations, and problems faced by incarcerated parents make it likely that significant numbers of children of prisoners will suffer emotional and behavioral difficulties. Data indicates that mentoring programs have reduced first time alcohol use by 33 percent.

• National Youth Summit: Each year, FYSB sponsors a National Youth Summit to promote leadership opportunities for youth and to provide them with alternatives to risky behavior. The National Youth Summit celebrates America's youth and their achievements, strengths, and leadership. This year, the Summit theme is Youth Leadership in America's Communities.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recognized as the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people - at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. CDC serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.

Surveillance Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

• Youth Risk Behavioral Survey System: Collects data on age at first drink of alcohol, frequency of drinking, frequency of binge drinking, and drinking on school property for high school students.

• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS): Collects data on the number of drinking days in the past 30 days, average number of drinks per occasion, and frequency of binge drinking. Although the system does not specifically cover the underage population, it does include persons 18 to 21 years old. BRFSS currently has a binge-drinking module collecting more detailed information on a person's most recent binge drinking episode, including beverage type, location of drinking, and source of alcohol.

• Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System: Collects information on women aged 13 years or older who recently had a live birth. The survey asks about alcohol consumption in the pre-conception period, during pregnancy, and postpartum.

• Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System: Covers women of childbearing age, whether pregnant or postpartum, and assess alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

• National Health Interview Survey: Collects information on alcohol consumption among adults, to include those 18 to 21 years old.

• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: Collects information on lifetime alcohol use, current alcohol use, and binge drinking among adults, to include those 18 to 21 years old.

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

• Project BALANCE (Birth Control and Alcohol Awareness: Negotiating Choices Effectively): Preventing Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies in Adolescents: The goal of this program is to design, implement, and evaluate intervention strategies to prevent alcohol-exposed pregnancies in young women.

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National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Alcohol, Alcohol Abuse, and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

Motivated by new research findings, NIAAA has redoubled its efforts in the area of underage drinking prevention. Staff has embarked on a long-term endeavor to develop the next generation of interventions to address underage alcohol consumption through a careful consideration of this problem within a developmental context. Furthermore, NIAAA has long supported and continues to support an extensive array of projects that pertain to underage drinking. These grants and contracts fund research activities based in universities, treatment organizations, community agencies, and with private contractors. Supported projects include but are not limited to investigations in the following areas: epidemiology, neurobiology, psychology, prevention, and treatment. A few key activities are highlighted below:

• Underage drinking initiative: An internal "team" established in October 2003 at NIAAA will oversee development and evaluation of new prevention and intervention methods for underage drinking based on the most current scientific understanding of developmental neurobiology. These activities will also be informed by studies addressing the unique interplay of biology, psychology, and socio-cultural influences during adolescence that affects how young people respond to alcohol.

• Studies to examine the brain mechanisms of adolescent alcohol abuse and alcoholism: It is now understood that adolescence is a time of powerful developmental forces that go well beyond the traditional conceptualization of "raging hormones," and include significant changes to the brain and nervous system. These changes include increased myelination of neural cells and "pruning" of synapses and neural pathways that are infrequently used. Due to these processes of neural development, adolescence may be a particularly vulnerable time for exposure to alcohol. The newly funded studies build on findings in animal studies that show that: (1) heavy binge-like episodes of ethanol consumption produce damage in areas of the brain affecting cognition and memory; and (2) adolescent alcohol drinking in genetically predisposed rats has long-lasting effects into adulthood, potentially increasing alcohol-seeking behavior, making it more difficult to stop drinking, and increasing the probability of relapse.

• Studies to examine cognitive changes associated with adolescence that may influence risk for alcohol abuse: Adolescents are more likely to have logical thinking disrupted by emotional activity, thereby leading to poor decision-making. The influence of such processes on risk for alcohol abuse is being studied. Changing expectations of outcomes from drinking in adolescents are also being investigated, along with methods for altering these expectations as part of prevention efforts.

• Project Northland: Project Northland is a comprehensive universal prevention program tested in 22 school districts in northeastern Minnesota in a randomized trial. The intervention, delivered to a single cohort in grades six through 12, included: innovative social behavioral school curricula; peer leadership; parental involvement programs; and community-wide task force activities to address community norms and alcohol availability. Significant differences were observed between intervention and comparison communities during each project period for "tendency to use alcohol" (a composite measure that combined items about intentions to use alcohol and actual use) and "five or more in a row." Growth rates were lower in the intervention communities during phase 1; higher during the interim period (suggesting a "catch-up" effect while intervention activities were minimal); and lower again during phase 2 when intervention activities resumed. Based on its success, Project Northland has been designated a model program by SAMHSA, and its materials have been adapted for a general audience and marketed by Hazeldon. Project Northland is now being replicated in ethnically diverse urban neighborhoods.

• Adolescent Treatment Research Program: NIAAA initiated an adolescent treatment research program in 1998. Since then, 18 clinical projects have been funded, most of which are clinical trials. Fifteen are behavioral projects and three are pharmacotherapy trials. The objective of this initial wave of studies is to design and test innovative, developmentally tailored interventions that provide evidence-based knowledge to improve alcohol treatment outcomes in adolescents. Results for many of these projects will be forthcoming over the next few years, and will yield a broad perspective on the potential efficacy of family-based, cognitive behavioral, brief motivational, and guided self-change interventions in a range of settings.

• Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol-Free: Beginning in March 2000, NIAAA's Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free enlisted the support of US governors' spouses to combat underage drinking, increasing awareness of and attention to alcohol consumption among children 9 to 15 years old. The Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free is a public-private partnership with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) and federal agencies across several departments. The goal of this initiative is to educate the public about the dangers of early alcohol use and to mobilize action to prevent it. Since previous research has made it clear that community involvement can be beneficial in decreasing alcohol-related risk in children and adolescents, NIAAA initiated this important work with Governors' spouses, other Federal agencies, and public and private organizations to prevent the use of alcohol by youth 9 to 15 years old.

• Research Partnership Awards for Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems: In August 2003, NIAAA issued RFA AA- 03-008 that facilitates collaboration between alcohol researchers and universities/colleges to support intervention studies on college campuses that can capitalize on natural experiments (e.g. unanticipated adverse events, policy changes, new media campaigns). Next steps will include matching these researchers and their designed intervention to a natural environment on a college/ university campus that is experiencing a college drinking related issue. This cooperative agreement will continue until July 2008; a Policy Steering Committee of federal partners will be constituted in spring, 2004.

• NIAAA's college drinking initiative: Undertaken in FY 2000-2002, this initiative continues to support and stimulate studies of the epidemiology and natural history of college student drinking and related problems with the ultimate goal of designing and testing interventions to prevent or reduce alcohol-related problems among college students. Currently NIAAA's portfolio in this area includes more than 30 projects.

• Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) evaluation: OJJDP is funding four states to conduct EUDL activities in three to five sites. NIAAA will be funding and managing an evaluation of those sites. This effort pulls together a community coalition to create an environment to reduce underage drinking.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

• Alcohol Policy Information System: APIS is an electronic resource that provides authoritative, detailed, and comparable information on alcohol-related policies in the United States, at both State and Federal levels. Designed primarily as a tool for researchers, APIS is intended to encourage and facilitate research on the effects and effectiveness of alcohol-related policies. Although not dedicated to underage drinking policies, APIS does provide information on all alcohol policies relevant to underage drinking, for example policies and procedures in retail alcohol outlets for preventing alcohol sales and service to minors.

• National Alcohol Screening Day: The goal of National Alcohol Screening Day is to create public awareness and education about alcohol problems and provide the opportunity to screen and refer, when indicated, for assessment of alcohol treatment. NASD screening programs are held on college campuses, in community settings, and in private and public primary care practices to reach college students, adults, and older adults. When the results of the screening test indicate, participants are referred to local alcohol treatment through the treatment Referral Locator program funded by SAMHSA. Since its inception in 1999, nearly 100,000 people from 50 States have participated in the educational component of NASD. Of the 100,000 participants over 55,000 persons have been screened. Of those persons screened more that 13,000 have been referred for further assessment and diagnosis. In 2003, approximately 750 people were trained on "How to Conduct a NASD Event" in various cities across the country. In 2003, screening occurred on almost 900 college campuses; nearly 1000 colleges and universities have signed up for 2004.

• Ongoing Research Studies: Longitudinal studies still following subjects ascertained when they were adolescents, genetic epidemiology studies, as well as, NIAAA's National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol Related Conditions which includes people aged 18 to 21, are particularly pertinent to the question of underage drinking. These studies all have the potential to enhance our understanding of the etiology, extent and consequences of underage alcohol consumption.

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

• Youth Underage Drinking Prevention Campaign - Too SMART to START (TSTS): Too Smart to Start is a national community education program targeting children and youth, ages 9-13. This public education initiative, tried and tested in 9 communities nationwide, provides professionals, volunteers, and parents with tools and materials that can help shape healthy behaviors regarding alcohol use for a lifetime. TSTS includes a web page, technical assistance, and a community action kit to help plan, develop, promote and support local underage alcohol use prevention. The program includes materials and strategies that are flexible for use in communities of all sizes and actively involves entire communities in sending clear, consistent messages about why children should reject underage drinking.

• Reach Out Now Fifth and Sixth Grade Scholastic Supplements: SAMHSA and Scholastic Magazine have developed a special edition targeting ten and eleven year olds and their parents. Known as Reach Out Now: Talk with Your Fifth Graders about Underage Drinking, these materials have been focus group-tested with parents and teachers, and include a classroom discussion guide for teachers, activity sheet for students, and a take-home packet for parents. In March 2002, the package was sent for the first time to every fifth grade class in the country and to the States participating in the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free Initiative. In spring 2004, packages are being sent to every fifth and sixth grade class in the country.

• Reach Out Now Teach-In: To further alert children, parents, and teachers about the dangers of underage alcohol use, and to reinforce the messages in these school-based materials, SAMHSA is encouraging prominent national, State, and local leaders to conduct teach-ins for fifth grade classrooms nationwide during the week of April 26-30, 2004, the last week of Alcohol Awareness Month. Experience has shown that these teach-ins raise awareness of the problem of underage drinking and encourage greater use of the materials. The teach-ins have expanded from the First Spouses of States who participated in the past two years to a national effort that includes community-based organizations and schools in all 50 States and the District of Columbia.

• Governors' Spouses Initiative - The Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free: This initiative is a unique coalition of Governors' spouses, Federal agencies, public and private organizations, to prevent the use of alcohol by children ages 9 to 15. The goal of this initiative is to educate the public about the dangers of early alcohol use and to mobilize action to prevent it. In addition to supporting the Leadership initiative itself through an interagency agreement with NIAAA, SAMHSA funds an effort to link this initiative with prevention programs funded by the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant in the States and with certain SAMHSA programs, such as Too Smart to Start and the Reach Out Now Teach-Ins.

• Preventing Underage and Binge Drinking and Alcohol Problems Among Youth and College Students in El Paso and Brownsville, Texas: In 1997, "Operation Safe Crossing" was developed in San Diego/Tijuana to reduce the number of youth ages 18-25 from crossing the US/Mexico border to drink in Mexico. In 2001, a series of replications was developed using the San Diego environmentally oriented prevention approach began in El Paso and Brownsville, Texas. Laredo, Texas was added this year. An additional goal along the US/Mexico border is to reduce the harm associated with cross-border and binge drinking behaviors (e.g., impaired driving, date rape, and fights). The original program was highly successful, reducing cross-border drinking by 37 percent and was named a SAMHSA Model Program in 2002. Funding additionally supports community coalitions in each city, including law enforcement, local policy-makers, alcohol beverage workers (bartenders and bar owners) and representatives from prevention, who manage and ensure overall program effectiveness.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

• Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant: The SAPT Block Grant contains a prevention set-aside that reserves a minimum of 20% of each State's block grant allocation for prevention activities. While the majority of the programs supported by these funds are designed to prevent substance abuse in general, many can be expected to have an impact on the reduction of underage drinking. The SAPT Block Grant application has historically asked States to report voluntarily on underage drinking strategies. Examples include State's implementation of public education and/or media campaigns; State laws against consuming alcohol on college campuses; policies or enforcement of laws reducing access to alcohol by minors, including event restrictions, product price increases, or penalties for sales to minors; estimated age of drinking onset; and statutes restricting alcohol promotions to underage audiences. Data on States' answers to these questions are in CSAP's "e-prevention" Block Grant database.

• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD): The largest of CSAP's alcohol programs addresses Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Programs include a Center for Excellence, a FASD Materials Development Center for Excellence, and Alaska's Five-Year FAS Cooperative Agreement, which is jointly funded by CSAP and CSAT. While these programs do not specifically target underage drinkers, they can be expected to reach this population as well as adults.

• Building Blocks for a Healthy Future: Building Blocks for a Healthy Future is an early childhood substance abuse prevention program that educates parents and caregivers about the basics of risk and protective factors, ways to reduce risk factors, and how to reinforce skills that will enable caregivers to better nurture and protect their children in order to promote healthy lifestyles. Designed for parents and caregivers of children ages 3 to 6, Building Blocks is designed to help open up the lines of communication with young children and make it easier to keep those lines of communication open as they grow older. Building Blocks collaborates with the National Head Start Association, the National Association for Elementary School Principals, the League of Cities, and the American Medial Association Alliance to facilitate the training and dissemination efforts of the materials and products.

• Outreach to Children of Parents in Treatment (OCPT): In collaboration with the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), the OCPT project has developed a kit that includes prevention materials that target the children of parents in substance abuse treatment. The materials are being disseminated to substance abuse treatment centers to use for staff in-services and for children of parents in treatment. The kit includes a promising practices program list which identifies existing prevention and support services to children of substance abusing parents in various settings (e.g., treatment centers, faith/community settings, private voluntary organizations); a practice manual and resource packet; videos; and colorful announcement posters.

• Environmental Prevention of College Alcohol Problems: This SAMHSA/ CSAP/NIAAA five-year program, begun in FY 1999, evaluates a comprehensive environmental prevention strategy aimed at reducing binge drinking and resulting alcohol problems at San Diego State University and New Mexico State University.

Surveillance Activities:

• SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) [formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)]: Conducted by SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies (OAS), this survey is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non- institutionalized population, age 12 and older. While the NSDUH is not alcohol- specific, it does track a variety of information on underage alcohol use and provides a database for special studies related to alcohol use and alcohol use disorders.

• The Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS): The primary source of national data on substance abuse treatment. The Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, conducts DASIS. While not specific to youth, it does provide information on adolescent substance abuse treatment facilities as well as adolescent treatment in correctional facilities. DASIS has three components:

  • The Inventory of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (I-SATS) is a listing of all known public and private substance abuse treatment facilities in the United States and its territories. Before 2000, the I-SATS was known as the National Master Facility Inventory.

  • The National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) is an annual survey of all facilities in the I-SATS that collects information on location, characteristics, services offered and utilization. Information from the N-SSATS is used to compile and update the National Directory of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs and the online Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator. The N-SSATS includes a periodic survey of substance abuse treatment in adult and juvenile correctional facilities. Before 2000, the N-SSATS was known as the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS).

  • The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) is a compilation of data on the demographic and substance abuse characteristics of admissions to substance abuse treatment. Information on treatment admissions are routinely collected by State administrative systems and then submitted to SAMHSA in a standard format.

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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)

CSAT operates a number of programs designed to both screen and assess for alcohol problems and provide alcohol treatment services for persons with alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. The alcohol treatment program encompasses the SAPT Block Grant program; screening, assessment, and referral; and knowledge application programs. The populations reached include youth under the age of 21, college students who may be participating in risky drinking behaviors, and adults, including older adults, who may have received a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and dependence that are receiving alcohol treatment services.

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

• Treatment of Adolescent Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Replication of Effective Alcohol Treatment Interventions for Youth: In FY 2003, CSAT developed the Adopt/Expand Effective Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment program. This grant program builds on effective interventions for youth experiencing alcohol or other drug problems. Twenty-two sites were funded to provide training and certification on using Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a proven effective intervention–This program will increase the availability and effectiveness of treatment for youth with alcohol and drug problems and will treat approximately 2,000 teens and their families per year.

• Potential Interventions for Underage Drinkers in Emergency Rooms: A white paper about the interventions that could be used with underage drinkers admitted to emergency rooms has been developed. The paper includes next steps/recommendations, the barriers to recruiting underage drinkers into adolescent emergency room brief intervention programs, variables that increase participation rates in these interventions, whether or how these interventions impact adolescents' movement through the continuum of the stages of change, and the role of significant others.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

• SAPT Block Grant: This block grant is a primary source of funding for alcohol treatment in the United States. While there is no set-aside for adolescent treatment, states have the option of using this resource to treat alcohol use disorders among youth.

• National Association of Insurance Commissioners Effort: CSAT provided experts to educate State legislators who also serve as State insurance commissioners about the repeal of a model insurance law that does not support reimbursement for medical care following an alcohol-related traffic crash resulting in injury. The existing and now repealed Model Law was based on the 1950s premise that alcohol problems were due to a moral failing rather than the current disease model of alcohol problems. With the repeal of this Model, State insurance laws will provide for reimbursement of alcohol-related events and the opportunity for the attending emergency room provider to conduct a brief intervention surrounding the person's injury and drinking pattern.

• National Alcohol Screening Day: CSAT is a co-sponsor of National Alcohol Screening Day with NIAAA and CSAP. The goal of National Alcohol Screening Day is to create public awareness and education about alcohol problems and provide the opportunity to screen and refer, when indicated, for assessment of alcohol abuse or dependence. The NASD screening programs are held on college campuses, in community settings, and in private and public primary care practices to reach college students, adults, and older adults. When the results of the screening test indicate, participants are referred to local alcohol treatment through the treatment Referral Locator program funded by SAMHSA.

• Targeted Capacity Expansion Program: CSAT's Targeted Capacity Expansion Program (TCE) addresses emerging substance abuse trends and the disparity in some areas between the demand for and the availability of appropriate treatment. It is designed to address gaps in treatment capacity by supporting rapid and strategic responses to demands for both alcohol and drug treatment services in communities with serious, emerging drug problems as well as communities with innovative solutions to unmet needs. Adolescents are one of the target populations for the TCE grants.

• Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment (SBIRT) Grants: SBIRT involves implementation of a system within community and specialist settings that screens for and identifies individuals with substance use-related problems. Depending on the level of problems identified, the system either provides for a brief intervention within the generalist setting, when appropriate, or motivates and refers the individual with a high level of problems and probable diagnosis of a substance dependence disorder to the specialist setting for assessment and diagnosis and either brief or long-term treatment. This includes training in self-management and involvement in mutual help groups, as appropriate. (Workgroup on Substance Abuse Self-Help Organizations, 2003) Several SBIRT grantees have developed programs that are available to individuals under 21 years of age.

• Programs for Improving Addiction Treatment: CSAT supports a variety of programs to improve transfer of science to services and improve addiction treatment nationally. For example, the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network is dedicated to identifying and advancing opportunities for improving addiction treatment. The Network is designed to upgrade the skills of existing practitioners and other health professionals and to disseminate the latest science to the treatment community. The ATTC Network provides both academic (pre-service) and continuing education opportunities as well as technical assistance to multiple disciplines working in the addictions field. In addition several Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPS) address these concerns (e.g., 16: Alcohol and Drug Screening of Hospitalized Trauma Patients, 24: A Guide to Substance Abuse Services for Primary Care, 26: Substance Abuse Among Older Adults, 31: Screening and Assessing Adolescents for Substance Use Disorders, 32: Treatment of Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders, 34: Brief Interventions and Brief Therapies for Substance Abuse.

• SAMHSA National HELPLINE - 1-800-662-HELP: Individuals in need of treatment for alcohol or illicit drug problems can call the SAMHSA National HELPLINE for referral to appropriate treatment services. In addition individuals seeking treatment can go to the SAMHSA website www.samhsa.gov to locate treatment services in their area.

• Partnership for Drug-Free America: In conjunction with Partnership for Drug-Free America, CSAT is working on the development of a consumer-related interactive website. The site, an interactive online treatment resource, will be targeted to friends, family and other caring influencers of dependent youth and young adults. Using SAMHSA resources, attention will be paid to culturally appropriate information and culturally specific links and resources. The site will seek to assist the influencer to find encouragement, access to general expertise on substance use disorders and information to help them navigate their way towards additional help and resources. The overall strategy of the site is "the earlier you seek help for an individual with a substance abuse disorder you care about the better. Don't wait. Learn more about how you CAN help now".

• NIAAA Intra-Agency Agreement: CSAT provided funds for the NIAAA Underage College Drinking Initiative, which began in August 2003, to facilitate the cooperative efforts of CSAT and NIAAA to support quality studies of services interventions on college campuses that can capitalize on natural experiments; e.g. unanticipated adverse events, policy changes, new media campaigns, etc. NIAAA published RFA #AA-03-008 to solicit the field for applications for "Research Partnership Awards for Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems." From this, five responses and researchers have been selected. Next steps will include matching these researchers and their designed intervention to a natural environment on a college/ university campus that is experiencing a college drinking related issue. Since this is a cooperative agreement that will last until July 2008, participation by federal partners will be through a Policy Steering Committee that will be formed in spring 2004.

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U.S. Department of Education/Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

In FY 2002, the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools awarded grants to 47 local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop and implement innovative and effective alcohol abuse prevention programs for secondary school students.

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

Grantees are required to implement, as part of their overall program, one or more of the proven strategies for reducing underage alcohol abuse as determined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In addition, they are required as part of the application process to explain how other activities to be carried out under the grant will be effective in reducing underage alcohol abuse, including references to the past effectiveness of the activities. In addition to the discretionary grants, ED uses an Inter-Agency Agreement with SAMHSA, to provide alcohol abuse resources and start-up assistance to grantees through a technical assistance network operated by DHHS/SAMHSA's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

During the past nine years, funding has been provided for the Department's major initiatives related to alcohol and other drug abuse and violence prevention among college students.

• Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention: The Center's purpose is to help college and community leaders develop, implement, and evaluate programs and policies to reduce student problems related to alcohol and illicit drug use and interpersonal violence. The Center also promotes innovative program development to improve student education, campus-based media campaigns, screening and treatment referral, and enforcement.

• National Meeting on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention in Higher Education: Each year, the Department sponsors the National Meeting to assist grantees and other campus communities share information on effective strategies related to drug abuse and violence prevention in higher education.

• Grant Competition to Prevent High-Risk Drinking or Violent Behavior Among College Students: In FY01 and FY03, the goal of this grant competition was to provide funds to individual institutions of higher education, consortia thereof, as well as public and private nonprofit organizations (including faith-based organizations), or individuals to develop or enhance, implement, and evaluate campus- and/or community-based prevention strategies. Grantees focused attention on and developed solutions to reduce high-risk drinking or violent behavior among college students.

• Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Models on College Campuses Grant Competition: In FY99-FY01, the goals of this funding opportunity were to identify models of innovative and effective alcohol and other drug abuse prevention programs at institutions of higher education, and disseminate information about these programs to parents of prospective college students and to other colleges and universities where similar efforts may be adopted. This grant competition was not offered during FY02 or FY03; however, it is being offered again in FY04. A summary of projects awarded under these two grant competitions is as follows:

  • National College Alcohol, Drug, and Violence Survey: In August 1998, the Department of Education contracted with the Core Institute, part of Southern Illinois University, to conduct a national probability sample survey of alcohol and other drug use and violence on college campuses. The data obtained from this survey can be used to assess the level of alcohol and other drug use and violent behavior among college students, thereby helping to plan, set policy, and design programs to best meet the needs of college campuses and their communities.

  • Interagency Agreements: Since FY99, the Department provided funds to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to support grants with activities that have the potential of preventing or reducing alcohol abuse and associated problems among college students. Since the original Interagency Agreement did not specify a particular grant to support, ED funding has been used in five of the following grants:

    • Barry Caudill, Westat, Alcohol Risk Prevention in a National Fraternity

    • Robert Turrisi, Boise State University, Idaho, Early Intervention to Prevent Student Binge Drinking

    • Mary Larimer, University of Washington, Social Norms and Skills-Training: Motivating Campus Change

    • William DeJong, EDC, Can Social Norms Marketing Reduce High-Risk Drinking?

    • Kate Carey, Syracuse University, Brief Interventions for Binge Drinking College Students

• To contribute to the efforts of reaching the national goal of reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities to no more than 11,000 by the year 2005, the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT/NHTSA) provided funds to the Department, as part of a two-year Interagency Agreement. In FY04, an underage drinking and impaired driving prevention manual titled Safe Lanes on Campus, which was the result of this partnership, was made available to help college campuses and their surrounding communities to implement effective impaired driving and underage drinking prevention programs.

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Department of Transportation/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

The following is a list of NHTSA activities directed at underage drinking.

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

• Alcohol Prevention Handbook for Colleges and Universities: NHTSA and the US Department of Education, with the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, released the Safe Lanes on Campus: A Guide for Preventing Impaired Driving and Underage Drinking. Grounded in research literature, the 60-page guidebook describes strategies for combating underage drinking and impaired driving.

• Latino Strategies: NHTSA and ASPIRA will utilize the ASPIRANTE (Youth) program around the country to research, develop, test and promote specific Latino youth underage drinking and impaired driving information.

• Focus Groups for Teens Across All Safety Issues: This project will create the framework for effective public education programs designed to counteract the dangerous driving behaviors among teenage motorists. Teenage focus group discussions will be held throughout the country.

• Underage Drinking Enforcement: NHTSA and the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) are developing a best practices manual and training program to assist State and local alcohol beverage control and law enforcement agencies in enforcing underage drinking laws.

• State Grant Programs

  • Section 402 authorizes NHTSA to provide funding for a broad range of traffic safety activities, including underage drinking. Funding levels are based on a formula using population and roadway miles.

  • Section 410 provides incentive for States to adopt laws and implement effective programs that address impaired driving. To be eligible, States must adopt or demonstrate efforts in at least five of seven areas, including underage drinking programs.

  • Section 154 encourages States to enact Open Container laws. States are subject to lose certain Federal-aid highway funds for failure to enact a law that prohibit the possession of any open alcoholic beverage container or the consumption of an alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of any motor vehicle located on a public highway or the right-of-way.

  • Section 163 encourages the establishment of .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as the legal limit for drunk driving offenses.

  • Section 164 encourages States to enact Repeat Intoxicated Driver laws. The law must provide minimum penalties for individuals convicted of a second or subsequent offense for driving under the influence after a previous conviction for within five years.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

• Impaired Driving Communications: The Ad Council and NHTSA will consolidate impaired driving prevention communications into a coordinated and effective social marketing campaign. The campaign's aim is to influence behavior in high-risk populations, including underage drinkers. Messages will be primarily delivered through three complementary campaigns: "You Drink and Drive. You Lose." "Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving," and the "Zero Tolerance Means Zero Chances."

• Campus Community Demonstration Project: NHTSA and the BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network will demonstrate combined strategies to combat high-risk and underage drinking among the 18-24 year age population. Launched this fall, the 18-month project will focus on enforcement, local policy, and peer education strategies at the University of California at Riverside, University of Tampa, and Texas A&M University.

• College Binge Drinking Prevention Initiative: NHTSA is working with the North American Interfraternity Conference to develop programs focused on reducing high-risk and underage drinking on campuses. Alcohol summits have been conducted on college 18 campuses. As a result, various programs, activities, events and policies were developed and implemented. The results and experiences of the participating fraternities and sororities will be featured in a new publication, The Alcohol Summit: A Roadmap for Fraternities and Sororities, scheduled for release in summer 2004.

• Juvenile Holdover Program: NHTSA is working with the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) to promote the Juvenile Holdover Program as an alternative to the use of traditional juvenile detention, jails, or lockups when such facilities are inappropriate, unnecessary, or unavailable. CADCA provides training to its member coalitions on how to implement the program in their communities.

• Drug Impairment Training for Educational Professionals: NHTSA and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) developed an educational training program designed to recognize drug abuse among students and provide appropriate intervention. The program offers school administrators and nurses a systematic approach to recognizing and evaluating drug abuse.

• Underage Drinking Enforcement: The IACP developed a training program to assist mid-level law enforcement managers address youth impaired driving problem in their community. IACP will form a cadre of course facilitators to deliver the Youth Enforcement Resource Kit.

• Native American Strategies: NHTSA and the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) are developing leadership training for Native Americans. Training for Road Warriors: Indian Youth for Traffic Safety will be provided at several key conferences in 2002-2004. Mini grants will facilitate dissemination.

• Teachable Moment: Project U-Turn: Turning a Tragedy into a Teachable Moment is a web-based campaign developed by National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS). The campaign focuses on teaching local media, school and community officials, and other volunteers to turn a "tragic" event into a teachable moment. The online package provides youth ready-to-use templates and information on how to communicate their positive safety message to other teens, the media, government officials, and community groups. NOYS will demonstrate the project in at least two communities.

• Traffic Safety Curriculum for School Resource Officers: NHTSA and National Association of School Resource Officers are developing a traffic safety school curriculum for 15 to 18 year olds for delivery by School Resource Offices. The curriculum emphasizes impaired driving and occupant protection issues.

• Peer-to-Peer Strategies: NHTSA and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) are supporting the Think About It campaign, a peer-to-peer student awareness program focused on underage drinking and impaired driving. A SADD and the Law campaign encourages student support of enforcement mobilizations. SADD is also establishing a cadre of youth student leaders to initiate anti-drinking and driving activities at the local level.

• Teen/Youth Court Program and Training: Youth Courts are programs in which their peers sentence juvenile offenders. NHTSA is developing National Youth Court Guidelines in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and the American Probation and Parole Association. The national guidelines were designed to help elevate the standard of youth court program operations and practices. OJJDP took the lead in continued support for teen/youth court programs.

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Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) coordinates the efforts of a wide range of federal agencies in reducing the use of illicit drugs among all Americans, as well as alcohol and tobacco use among youth. In addition, ONDCP maintains certain programs that seek to reduce underage drinking. Those are listed below along with details of their underage drinking initiatives.

Activities Related to Underage Drinking:

• Drug Free Communities Program (DFC): The DFC Program is involved in many strategies and projects related to underage drinking prevention. Drug-Free Community Coalitions are broad-based community organizations with varying foci and missions, often focused on youth anti-drug or anti-alcohol programs. In 2003, ONDCP asked the approximately 400 DFC grantees to detail their efforts to reduce underage alcohol use and received more than 260 responses. Nearly all reported that "reducing underage alcohol use" was one of their highest priority objectives.

• The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (Campaign) The Campaign addresses underage drinking prevention in the context of illicit drug use through websites (theantidrug.com, freevibe.com, drugstory.org) and brochures, including the popular booklet titled "Keeping Your Kids Drug Free—A How To Guide for Parents and Caregivers." In addition, ad time and space has been donated for underage drinking-related advertising as part of the Campaign's media match program, benefiting such groups as MADD, National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Alateen and Al Anon. With the start of the Early Intervention Initiative in February 2004, the Campaign references underage drinking in advertising, as well as non-advertising efforts in order to make the messages powerful and credible with the Campaign's target audiences – teens and parents.

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Department of Justice/Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

Activities Specific to Underage Drinking:

Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL): OJJDP's Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) initiative offers block and discretionary grant programs made available to States and the District of Columbia through an agency in each State designated by the governor and a D.C. agency designated by the mayor. Annually since 1998, the block grant program supports development of a State strategy to address the growing problem of underage drinking in every State by establishing or expanding a statewide task force, implementing public advertising efforts, and establishing innovative programs to curtail underage alcohol access and consumption. The discretionary grant program supports communities within those States that have successfully won awards to implement the EUDL program at the local level through a comprehensive program approach, with a special emphasis on enforcing the underage drinking laws. Since 1998, approximately 30 states have established discretionary EUDL programs in over 200 communities.

The EUDL national training and technical assistance provider has disseminated training, technical assistance and knowledge to help bring significant progress in the enforcement of underage drinking laws around the country. The EUDL national evaluator is continuing to conduct a national evaluation of EUDL designed to provide timely, scientifically sound evidence on the implementation of the program and its effects on law enforcement activities and youth alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems in local communities.

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Source: "Chapter 1: Prevention of Underage Drinking: Federal Agency Programs Currently in Operation." Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Report to Congress, online http://camy.org/washington/iccpud/Report.pdf

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