We’re excited to announce that New Castle United for Youth will continue to receive federal funding for our coalition work to prevent and reduce youth substance use and to support the well-being of New Castle youth! NCUFY was one of 54 coalitions nationwide to successfully apply for a competing continuation Drug-Free Communities grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Centers for Disease Control. Announced by an ONDCP press release on September 21, this grant will provide NCUFY with $125,000 of funding annually for the next five years.

Our successful grant application means that NCUFY can continue to build upon the good work done during Years 1 through 5 of our funding. In the first five years of grant implementation, NCUFY focused on building coalition capacity necessary to take action to support the health of New Castle youth. This work has resulted in a strong group of committed community members from multiple sectors following a comprehensive approach to identify and address local conditions leading to youth substance use. The first five years of collaborative work have made some inroads into reduction of youth substance use in our community, however many 30 day use rates for alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs still exceed national averages, particularly by the time youth reach twelfth grade. By receiving continued DFC grant funding, NCUFY aims to tackle remaining work to be done to reduce availability and to change the community culture and the context in which our youth make decisions about alcohol and other drug use. In Year 6, NCUFY will also focus on issues raised by the legalization of marijuana in New York State, cultural competency, including ensuring coalition strategies are accessible to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth, the connections between youth mental health and substance use while working to engage more sector and community members in the strategic work of the coalition.

Interested in learning how to become involved with NCUFY? Send us an email at newcastleunitedforyouth@gmail.com. Working together we can all help our community youth make healthy choices and reach their full potential!