TAPP
receive Robert Straus Award for Substance Abuse Prevention
Community Organization
To a
standing ovation from substance abuse and addiction
treatment specialists across the state, the Owen County
Teen Alcohol Prevention Project Youth Task Force was
honored July 21 with the Robert Straus Award for
outstanding contributions for substance abuse prevention
and treatment practices in Kentucky.
“Ladies and gentlemen, these are your future colleagues,”
said Donna Hillman, state director of the Department for
Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual
Disabilities, under which prevention efforts in the
Commonwealth of Kentucky fall.
The group was nominated for the award, which was presented
at the annual awards banquet of the Kentucky School for
Alcohol and Other Drug Studies at Northern Kentucky
University by Amy Baker, director of the Substance Abuse
Prevention Program across the state.
“Owen County TAPP has demonstrated what an amazing,
positive impact a group of young people can have on its
community,” Baker wrote in her nomination statement. “I
feel their greatest accomplishment is their contribution
toward lowering the incidence of underage drinking in Owen
County. Through their efforts and the support of their
community partners, the underage drinking rates in Owen
County have been reduced.”
Owen County TAPP was formed three years ago when the
community was identified as having a problem with underage
drinking despite the fact the county is dry – or does not
have packaged beer and liquor sales in the community.
The community was selected for a grant to target underage
drinking because of the consequence data that indicated
alcohol use in the community was relatively high compared
with other counties across the state. A readiness survey of
local leaders determined that the community was ready to
fight the issue locally.
NorthKey Community Care, the community mental health
agency, which provides mental health and substance abuse
prevention and treatment services in Owen County, serves as
the fiscal agent for the organization and has provided
support to the organization over the past three years.
NorthKey leaders were on hand at the award ceremony as
youth received the award.
“You are doing a great job and making a real difference,”
said Owen Nichols, CEO of NorthKey, in an email after the
ceremony. “Thanks for transforming lives and communities
through excellent service.”
At its inception, board members determined that the only
way to transform lives and address the underage drinking
issue in the community was to engage the youth and to
educate them on the consequences of drinking.
“We knew that the work we did had to be something in which
the youth were engaged, not something we did to them or for
them,” said Tony Watkins, chairman of Owen County
TAPP. “And we knew that we wanted to address the root
causes of the problem of underage drinking, not just look
for band-aide solutions.”
Some of the identified causes included: a culture that said
teen drinking is just a part of growing up; little for
teens to do in Owen County; and a belief by adults that
teens are going to drink regardless of what they said.
“We knew that by addressing these root causes we could
begin to change the patterns in Owen County,” Watkins
added.
Students were brought on board early on and given an active
role in the work of the task force. They plan alternative
events, such as the Rebel Palooza, which was held last
October after homecoming opposite the senior bonfire, a
traditional drinking event for many students. They
participate in the media campaigns, such as the “I’d
Rather” campaign that is currently under way and includes
posters, silhouettes and a billboard of local students.
And they are active in educating other students about the
negative affects of underage drinking. The students
have been asked to present at several regional conferences.
They presented at the National PRIDE Conference in April
and in July students led the day-long youth track at the
regional System of Care conference in Florence.
Additionally, students have formed Owen County SERVE,
participating in a variety of service activities in Owen
County and beyond. They recently completely a week-long
service project in Owen County involving 65 students and 30
adults.
The group also learned in July it will receive the Youth
Empowerment Systems Community Group of the Year Award at
the Kentucky Prevention Network’s annual conference in
September.
Mary Kennedy, one of the teens involved said she thinks
that the work of TAPP is beginning to change the culture of
the community.
“When we started, I think we reached the kids who were on
the fence, who hadn’t decided if they were going to drink
or not,” she said. “Now, I think we’re beginning to reach
those who have already chosen to drink but who are deciding
that they don’t really have to in order to have fun.”
Recent data shows she’s correct.
Owen County students in the 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades
participated in the KIP survey for the first time in 2006.
Among other things, the survey records students’
self-reported assessment of their drinking habits.
In the 2006 survey, 85 percent of Owen seniors reported
they’d used alcohol. That percentage dropped to 61 percent
in the 2008 survey.
“I think this is a result of students being empowered to
say ‘I’m OK if I don’t drink,’” said Patti Clark,
coordinator of the project.
Students at the four grade levels reported fewer drinking
episodes in the past 30 days. Drunkenness rates decreased
at the 8th, 10th and 12th grade levels, with the largest
decrease noted at the 10th grade level when the number of
students who reported they’d been drunk or high in the past
30 days fell 24 percent.
Perceived use of alcohol by friends also decreased at all
four grade levels, with students reporting that a fewer
number of their friends are using alcohol without their
parents knowing about it. And past year alcohol use also
decreased across the board by students in Owen County.
“There are still some areas we need to address as evidenced
by the KIP data,” Clark said. “The main one is that the
number of students at the 8th and 12th grades who don’t
perceive harm in regular alcohol use actually increased. We
have to do a better job at educating students and their
parents about the negative effectives of underage alcohol
use on the teen brain.”
The grant funding for Owen County TAPP is nearly complete.
The organization, along with other organizations serving
children, youth and their families in Owen County are
searching for local, regional and national support to
continue their work in the community.
“We have to find new money to continue this effort,”
Kennedy said. “We feel like we’ve just gotten the momentum
going and we don’t know where additional funds will come
from.”
TAPP, along with the Kentuckians Encouraging Youth to
Succeed project, and HOPE’s Hands, the community
partnership that brings all youth-serving agencies together
to address the issues that impact the success of students
and their families; will begin a capital campaign in the
next couple of months to raise local dollars to keep these
programs in place in Owen County.
“Owen County has been incredibly lucky to receive grant
funding in the past to address substance abuse and mental
health issues that keep our kids from being successful,”
said Clark, who also serves as chairman of HOPE’s Hands.
“Now, it’s time for the community to realize that we have
to take responsibility for these issues and step up and
join these youth in their fight to be successful,
productive members of society.”
It’s time to follow the lead of our youth.
“They have been bold. They have made sacrifices by standing
up and speaking out about underage alcohol use. They have
given up friends and activities and events that meant a lot
to them in order to change the culture of Owen County,”
Clark added. “They have been recognized across the state
for their work. As a community it’s time for us to stand
behind them and support them in order to allow them to
continue their work.”