An area county was recently one of nine in Missouri chosen to be a part of youth-centered substance use prevention through a federal grant program. The Regional Partnership for Success Grant was awarded to the Missouri Department of Behavioral Health to direct prevention efforts in counties across the state based on regional and local data, and Ozark County was among those selected.
According to the Ozark County Times, the program was discussed during a July meeting of the Ozark County Substance Abuse Task Force at Gainesville First Baptist Church’s community event center. Ozark County was chosen based on data from an optional 2020 survey to Missouri students in sixth through 12th grades. The data includes:
-Of those surveyed, 10.9% currently or in the past 30 days had used e-cigarettes while 9.5% of those surveyed were currently or within the last month using tobacco in the form of cigarettes or chew
-The root causes and local conditions identified were perception of enforcement of prohibitory policies, such as age of access laws, carding procedures, and adult-provided access.
For Ozark County, planned activities are to conduct tobacco compliance checks and engage in youth education and empowerment. For more information, contact Community Partnership of the Ozarks Regional Partnership for Success Grant Project Director Anna Simonson at asimonson@cpoozarks.org.
Click here for more information on the student survey.
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