Drug Free Communities - Drug Free Communities (DFC) is a federal grant program funded through the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that supports the work conducted by the Prevention Coalition of Broome County.
The purpose of the DFC Initiative is to target youth and families with effective strategies in prevention to reduce overall substance use within the community. This is done through coalition building, collaboration with local prevention providers and community partners, educating the community about substance use and addiction, and to increase protective factors by providing alternative activities throughout the community that are void of substances. The DFC Coalition, Prevention Coalition of Broome County (on Facebook) is comprised of 12 sectors of the community as each bring a unique perspective of the prevention needs of the community. The 12 sectors include parents, youth, schools, religious organizations, healthcare professionals, media, and business. Using SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework Model, the coalition focuses on planning, implementing and evaluating prevention practices and programs.
DFC uses data from Broome County's biyearly Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA) survey to decide which substances to focus its prevention efforts on. In 2018, DFC focused on four substances which were guided by the 2016 PNA Survey results. The three substances of focus were alcohol, marijuana and tobacco since they were the top reported substances used by 7-12 graders as defined by the 2016 PNA results.
You may contact the DFC Coordinator at 607.778.1005.
