U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

April 2001 #11

ordinance and a pledge to the parents of all middle and high

school students in the district. Parents are asked to sign the

pledge, signifying that they will make their home a safe place

for teens.

Adolescent Counseling Exchange (ACE), Denver, CO. The

ACE coalition provides services to a majority Hispanic population at risk for substance use/abuse, gang involvement, gun violence, low school achievement, dropping out of school, and

teenage pregnancy. ACE became a charter school in September

2000 and serves 100 at-risk, hard-to-reach middle school students. ACE has integrated its substance abuse and violence prevention curriculum into the school’s educational structure and

provides a daycare center for young children so that teen parents

can attend classes and participate in afterschool activities. In addition, the coalition has intervened in and mediated conflicts between two rival gangs to substantially reduce the number of

driveby shootings in the community.

Troy Community Coalition (TCC), Troy, MI. This coalition

has successfully raised funds to support a number of drug abuse

prevention activities, such as a prayer breakfast to recognize the

importance of the religious community in prevention programming and to celebrate diversity. It also held a basketball shooting

contest, sponsored in part by the Detroit Pistons professional basketball team, to provide a drug-free family activity. The coalition’s alcohol-free celebrity dinners and silent auctions feature

speakers with national and local reputations and draw more than

$100,000 in business support.

North Central Community Based Services (NCCBS), Chama,

NM. This coalition serves Rio Arriba County in northern New

Mexico. The majority of the population is Hispanic and American

Indian. The NCCBS coalition has developed a unique approach to

address the area’s graffiti problem, which is often an indicator of

substance abuse and gang activity. The coalition partners, including schools, businesses, the faith community, and youth-serving

organizations, supervise area youth in a mural creation project.

The youth create murals expressing their lives and experiences on

Promising Practices: Drug-Free

Communities Support Program 

by James M. Simonson and Pat M. Maher

The Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFCSP) helps

strengthen community antidrug coalitions working to reduce substance abuse among youth. The White House Office of National

Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), in partnership with the Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), awards

grants of up to $100,000 to community coalitions that support

prevention of youth alcohol and drug abuse. The following summaries highlight the variety of innovative strategies that DFCSPfunded coalitions use to assist their communities in becoming

drug free. Examples of these strategies include educational support, public relations/outreach campaigns, enforcement efforts,

coalition building, and other community initiatives.

Peers Are Staying Straight (PASS), Prattville, AL. The PASS

coalition administers the Autauga County Teen Court Program,

one of the first of its kind in Alabama. Student volunteers are

trained by local attorneys, juvenile probation officers, and adult

volunteers and must complete communication skills training and

pass the Teen Court Bar Exam to participate in the court process.

Local attorneys and judges serve as teen court judges. Juveniles

arrested for misdemeanor offenses may be referred to the program for adjudication by the court. Although shoplifting has been

the primary offense handled by the court, the majority of referred

juveniles have admitted to past or current substance use. Dispositions include substance abuse prevention education, community service, jury duty, law-related education, life skills training,

and apologies to parents and victims. Defendants are monitored

closely and receive individual and family counseling designed to

achieve long-term changes.

Vallejo Community Consortium, Vallejo, CA. This consortium, working with the Fighting Back Partnership of Vallejo project, helped draft the language for and supported passage of the

1999 Teen Party Ordinance, which authorizes the police department to recoup any costs associated with calls for service involving teenage parties where alcohol and illegal substances are used.

Parents of teens are asked to repay the costs of the service calls

for each reported incident. The Fighting Back Partnership of

Vallejo and the local school district plan to mail copies of the
PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/OJJDP

PERMIT NO. G–91

FS–200111 Fact Sheet

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

the walls of schools, private businesses, and public areas. Almost

immediately, the graffiti problem has stopped. 

Lane County Prevention Coalition, Eugene, OR. This coalition

was instrumental in convincing four local television affiliates to

coproduce, cohost, and simultaneously air a live, 1-hour town

hall meeting about substance abuse prevention, treatment, and

enforcement. Many coalition representatives served as the prevention and treatment “experts,” answering questions from broadcasters and viewers. Instead of commercials, a 2-minute vignette

that emphasized effective substance abuse prevention strategies

and programs was aired. The Lane County Prevention Coalition’s

DFCSP grant supported the event by providing information on

drug prevention, story lines, and talking points; Web site resources; and referrals to Federal drug abuse programs. As a spinoff, the same television affiliates have created ongoing local

public service campaigns around the issue of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and enforcement.

TOGETHER! Youth Violence, Alcohol, Drug Prevention,

Lacey, WA. The Neighborhood Centers project of TOGETHER!

provides a targeted drug abuse prevention program to children

and families living in low-income apartment complexes.

TOGETHER! rents an apartment in each complex and offers

afterschool and summer programs that promote a drug-free

climate for children. Activities range from homework assistance

and computer availability to skills building, conflict resolution,

and peer pressure resistance training. Girl Scout meetings, arts

and crafts, and field trips are offered. Drug abuse information, in

addition to information about employment and community resources, is disseminated to parents at family potluck dinners and

informal coffee hours. Programs for preschool children are also

sponsored at the neighborhood centers.

These are just a few of the program activities sponsored by the

307 projects currently funded by DFCSP. To be added to the mailing list for the Fiscal Year 2001 DFCSP solicitation (SL000454),

call 800–638–8736 or e-mail tellncjrs@ncjrs.org.

For Further Information

More information on ONDCP and OJJDP is available from:

Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse

Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

800–666–3332

Internet: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse

Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000 

800–638–8736

Internet: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org

James M. Simonson and Pat M. Maher are Program Managers in

OJJDP’s Drug-Free Communities Support Program.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component 

of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice

Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice,

and the Office for Victims of Crime.

FS–200111