The DFC Support Program’s two major goals are to: 1. establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, private non-profit agencies, and federal, state, local, and tribal governments to support the efforts of community “coalitions” to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth; and 2. reduce substance abuse over time among youth and adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse. Coalitions receiving grant funds through the program are obliged to make progress toward four core outcome measures. These relate to the prevalence of drug use among youth in their communities over the past 30 days, youth’s perceptions of the risk, and the separate perceptions of parental and peer disapproval of drug use—each of which is discussed later in the report. Under the DFC Support Program, ONDCP provides federal grants to coalitions that have established sustainable and accountable anti-drug efforts involving every major sector of a community, such as law enforcement and schools. For the purposes of this report we refer to coalitions as grantees. According to ONDCP officials, a DFC coalition is collaboration among groups, such as parents and businesses who agree to work together toward a common goal of building a safe, healthy, and established through a locally‐based arrangement for cooperation and drug‐free community. DFC grants are intended to support community based coalitions and the activities they carry out. Funds are granted to the coalition, not a particular sector or sector member. DFC coalitions are broad-based groups consisting of representatives of youth, parents, businesses, the media, law enforcement, religious or other civic groups, health care professionals, and other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse in their communities, especially among youth—as illustrated in figure 1. ONDCP funds four types of DFC Support Program grants: (1) New; (2) Continuation; (3) Mentoring; and (4) Mentoring Continuation. For the purposes of this review, we focused on New and Continuation DFC grants as they constitute the majority of grants awarded. 1. New grants represent those openly competing for their 1st or 6th year of DFC funding. 2. Continuation grants represent annual “in-cycle” grants for years 2 through 5, or 7 through 10 of DFC funding. 3. Mentoring grants represent the first in a 2-year grant awarded to existing coalitions to support their work to create new DFC coalitions. Mentoring Continuation grants represent the second year of the 2- year award. 4. Each new and continuation grant awards up to $125,000 per fiscal year and mentoring grants limit awards to $75,000 per fiscal year. By statute, eligible coalitions may receive a new grant for 1 year and then apply for a 1-year continuation grant in each of the subsequent 4 years— for a total first round grant period of 5 years. After the first 5 years, grantees can apply again for a second 5 year round—the maximum allowable term is 10 years—and the 6th year begins with another new grant. Grantees can apply for continuing grants again in each of the 4 years thereafter. According to ONDCP, it bases decisions on whether or not to continue a grant on the extent to which the coalition has (1) made satisfactory progress in its efforts to reduce youth substance abuse and (2) complied with all the terms and conditions of its award. To meet the statutory requirements of the DFC Support Program for initial eligibility—years 1 and 6—a coalition must: submit an application to the ONDCP Administrator; consist of one or more representatives from each of the 12 sectors— at least one representative per sector—as illustrated in figure 1; demonstrate that the representatives of the coalition have worked together on substance abuse reduction initiatives for at least 6 months (prior to applying); demonstrate substantial participation from volunteer leaders in the have as its principal mission the reduction of substance abuse in a comprehensive and long-term manner, with a primary focus on youth in the community; describe and document the nature and extent of the substance abuse problem in the community; provide a description of the substance abuse prevention and treatment programs and activities underway at the time of the grant application and identify substance abuse programs and service gaps in the community; develop a strategic plan to reduce substance abuse among youth; and work to develop a consensus regarding the priorities of the community to combat substance abuse among youth; establish a system to measure and report outcomes; conduct an initial benchmark survey of drug use among youth and provide assurances that the entity conducting the evaluation has sufficient experience in gathering data related to substance abuse among youth or in evaluating the effectiveness of community anti-drug coalitions; and demonstrate that the coalition is an “ongoing concern” by demonstrating that it has established itself as an appropriate legal entity or organization that receives financial support from non-federal sources and has a strategy to solicit substantial financial support from non-federal sources after the expiration of the grant term. For additional information on the statutory requirements for the DFC Support Program, see table 2 in appendix I. In addition to meeting statutory eligibility requirements, grantees must also comply with DFC Support Program terms and conditions. For example, the program requires that grantees must develop a comprehensive 12-Month Action Plan that includes an appropriate strategy for each drug they will be addressing—as well as a mechanism for demonstrating their progress along the way. Further, two grantees may not serve the same zip code, unless both have clearly demonstrated a plan for collaboration. For more information on the additional program requirements for the DFC Support Program, see table 3 in appendix I. In fiscal year 2015, the DFC Support Program’s appropriated budget was approximately $93.5 million, representing just under a quarter of ONDCP’s total budget of about $375 million. As table 1 shows, the total number of DFC Support Program grants increased each fiscal year from 2013 to 2015. According to ONDCP, since the passage of the Drug-Free Communities Act in 1997, the DFC Support Program has funded more than 2,000 coalitions and mobilizes nearly 9,000 community volunteers across the country. ONDCP and SAMHSA have operated the grant program through an inter- agency agreement since 2005 that they update annually. Specifically, ONDCP oversees the strategic planning, bi-annual progress reporting, funding of the DFC Support Program, and SAMHSA conducts day-to-day administration, such as interacting with grantees on a regular basis and reviewing their activities. SAMHSA, as directed by ONDCP also awards a grant to the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), which provides technical assistance and training to grantees in order to enhance their capacity. For example, CADCA trains grantees in effective community problem-solving strategies and teaches them how to assess their local substance abuse-related problems and develop responsive action plans. The DFC Support Program operates on a yearly grant cycle, working through a given calendar year. The DFC grant life cycle follows a typical federal grant life cycle, as shown in figure 2. ONDCP and SAMHSA require grantees to submit semi-annual progress reports through an ONDCP system called DFC Management and Evaluation (DFC Me). These reports contain descriptions of the activities the grantees conducted in supporting the program’s two broad goals, as well as their progress against the program’s four core measures: 1. Past 30-Day Prevalence of Use—youth who reported use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or illicit use of prescription drugs at least once in the past 30 days. 2. Perception of Risk—youth who reported that the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or illicit use of prescription drugs is harmful. 3. Perception of Parental Disapproval—youth who reported their parents feel the regular use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, or illicit use of prescription drugs is wrong or very wrong. 4. Perception of Peer Disapproval—youth who reported their friends thought it would be “wrong or very wrong” for them to drink alcohol, engage in any tobacco or marijuana use, or illicit prescription drug use. See appendix II for additional details on ONDCP’s core measures. As we have previously reported, conducting grant management processes like those illustrated above, in accordance with internal control standards, statutory requirements, and leading practices for collaborating agencies is essential for achieving program outcomes. ONDCP’s and SAMHSA’s efforts to jointly manage the DFC Support Program are consistent with relevant, key collaboration practices. Specifically, in our prior work, we have found that collaboration is enhanced when partners follow certain key practices, such as (1) defining a common outcome, (2) agreeing on roles and responsibilities, and (3) establishing compatible policies, procedures, and other means to operate across agency boundaries. We have also recognized in prior work that collaborating agencies should work together to define and agree on their respective roles and responsibilities, including how the collaborative effort will be led, designating a lead body, establishing oversight for the initiative, and employing mechanisms to implement their efforts. DFC grantees have engaged in a range of activities, including drug abuse education campaigns and efforts to enhance enforcement, and they report on these activities in their semi-annual progress reports to SAMHSA. ONDCP, through its contractor, routinely reviews the nature and scope of these activities to ensure they fit within one of the Seven Strategies for Community Change.