Mineral nets funds to reduce binge drinking

Four counties chosen for prevention program

Mineral County was notified last week that it will receive significant funding and direction to run an over three-year program to reduce binge drinking and alcohol-related car crashes amongst its youth.

Mineral County was just one of four counties and the Flathead Reservation that were incorporated in the strategic prevention program, run by the Flathead Reservation and Lake County Coalition For Kids. Julie Berry, the director for CFK, said that they decided to incorporate Mineral, Lake, Sanders and Lincoln counties into the program because they felt that the counties had similarities and could share resources, ideas and direction.

The funding for the program comes from a grant the CFK received from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Berry said the particulars of the grant have not been finalized, but the CFK should receive in the neighborhood of $2.6 million. Of the $2.6 million, Mineral County will receive over $100,000 a year over a three-year period to implement the prevention program.

In a telephone conversation with the county commissioners, sheriff, justice of the peace and public health director Tuesday, Berry said the program was so "ground-breaking" that the federal government would be watching them. "This grant is different then anything we've ever encountered. It's going to be fun, it's going to be interesting, and it's going to be a lot of work," she said.

"It's about changing social acceptance about underage drinking," Berry continued. She said it wasn't just about raising awareness, but identifying strategies that can change the mindset of youths about drinking. She said it would be difficult task. She said the program will focus on binge drinking among youth and reducing drinking and driving. She said the prevention program will be "data-driven" and will implement "environmental strategies" through coalition building, media advocacy, data collection, enforcement and potential policy development.

Berry said the program will be for a three and a half year-period, and during this time the CFK will be overseeing the program and offering the counties assistance. Peggy Stevens, the Mineral County Health Department director and Public Health Nurse, asked Berry if there would be grants available to sustain the program for a longer period. She said Mineral County had a low tax base and probably couldn't afford to sustain the program without grants. Berry said that the grant has set aside funding for a sustainability coordinator who will be training the counties in grant writing.

Berry said the first thing the county needs to do is hire a program director for the program. She said the first months of the program will be labor-intensive. She said the program director would be completing a data workbook, which will make sure they are targeting the right population and help in identifying strategies to prevent binge drinking.

After the telephone conversation with Berry, Stevens couldn't hide her excitement about the program. "This is huge. This is really big. The county never has done anything like this," she said. Stevens said that drinking has become perceived as a "rite of passage" for many of the county's youth, and to change this mindset is going to be a difficult task.

Mineral County Sheriff Hugh Hopwood said that the program will help them develop an overall strategy of how to deal with underage binge drinking. "In my experience, kids don't drink [recreationally]; kids drink to get drunk," he said. Hopwood said that youths often drinks as much as they can as fast as they can and this is when most problems occur. He said the program will address this issue. "What we need to do is change the mindset that this is okay and is acceptable," he said.