April AC4C Roundtable

Items for the Roundtable are due to Jodee by the 20th of each month. The Roundtable will go out at the beginning of each month.

April 2016

From the Director's Desk...

Just a reminder as we enter April to consider the important happenings this month. April is alcohol awareness month and AC4C is partnering with the Alcohol Beverage Division (ABD) to bring awareness to this important topic. AC4C Board Member, Jennifer Husmann, was recently interviewed by KCCI in Des Moines to talk about concerns related to youth alcohol use and access (click on this link for the video). I will be also taking part in an interview on KCWI Great Day at the end of April. During our interviews we share information on currents trends and the importance of parents talking to their kids about alcohol use. We look at these opportunities as ways to bring awareness to our organization and the concern for youth alcohol use.

We also want to remind communities that April 30th is Drug Take Back Day. This has been a beneficial event since 2010. According to the National Take Back Initiative data, the first year Iowa took part in the event, 1,569 pounds of drugs were collected.

The Spring of 2015 brought the totals to 59,935 pounds of drugs in the State of Iowa. Your voices were heard and this event was brought back due to the many requests that were made. We were fortunate to hear the DEA administrator spe ak at CADCA and he voiced his support and plans to continue the take back program. For a collection site near you, go to this link. We continue to work with our partners to improve access to resources and reduce the barriers to cost effective solutions. Please share with your colleagues, friends and family, the information we provide through our newsletter and social media. These issues related to substance abuse affect us all and we all want the best for our youth and families to have healthy communities.

~ Angie

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Retreat highlights

Thank you to those of you who attended retreat! We had a productive time together working with our state partners and coalitions. A special thank you to our Drug Free Communities Project Officer, Fred Volpe, for sharing his experience with our group.

If you were unable to attend, you can find the highlights at this link

Grant Information

The Drug Free Communities Mentoring Grant is accepting applications for consideration. The primary goal of the DFC Mentoring Program is to assist newly forming coalitions in becoming eligible to apply for DFC funding on their own. More information can be found here

The Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Act (STOP) Grant is accepting applications from The purpose of the STOP Act grant program is to prevent and reduce alcohol use among youth ages 12-20 in communities throughout the United States. STOP Act grant funds must focus primarily on strengthening collaboration among community entities to reduce alcohol use among youth in current and former DFC grantee communities. The application can be found here.

Please contact us as [email protected] if your community is considering applying for funding. You can also review the list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) at this link .

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Membership forms available on website

We are asking our new and current partners to please update the information on our membership forms. If you are a new member, please go to our website and click on this link to fill out the membership form. If you would like to update your current form or have any questions, please contact Jodee at [email protected]. Thanks for your assistance!

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Coalition Resources

New resources available

It is important to get the general public up to speed on what we know regarding safety issues with marijuana and Rx drugs in particular. AC4C has worked with state partners to produce 10,000 brochures for statewide distribution. The funds were provided through a ODCP-JAG Diversion grant. and are available upon request. You can also download the links below to access these brochures.

Limited quantities can be mailed by emailing us at [email protected]

Marijuana brochure

Prescription Drug brochure

Upcomin g Training & Events

Check out the trainings on our partner sites:

Iowa Board of Certification

Training Resources

Iowa Substance Abuse Information Center (ISAIC)

University of Iowa Center for Child Health Improvement & Innovation

SAVE THE DATES

Governor's Conference on Substance Abuse

Dates: April 19th & 20th