State and Federal Initiatives
The following is a brief summary of Connecticut's involvement in the
Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program
Randomized Community Trial
The OJJDP Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program has been a federally funded initiative since 1998, providing block and discretionary grants to states to support local efforts to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to, or the consumption of alcoholic beverages by, minors. In Connecticut, the Office of Policy and Management has been the state agency responsible for the distribution of funding to local communities following an RFP protocol, calling for applicants willing to establish comprehensive community programs to reduce underage drinking with an emphasis on increasing law enforcement activity regarding the sale of alcohol to minors. The creation of a community coalition or task force, youth leadership and involvement, policy initiatives and focused evaluation components have also been identified as essential requisites for funding.
In 2003, OJJDP decided to appropriate discretionary funds for the development of a National Community Trials Initiative, to assess the effectiveness of what are identified as the "best or most promising practices" in the context of the EUDL programs. Connecticut responded to a solicitation for State participation and was one of five states selected to receive funding, along with New York, Missouri, California and Florida. Each state was expected to identify approximately 14 cities / towns, with populations between 25,000 and 200,000, which were not actively engaged in a focused effort to reduce underage drinking. The communities were later categorized in a random manner as intervention or control sites.
The intervention sites receive substantial funding ranging from $100,000 to $125,000,
intensive technical assistance and training, and program oversight to support
the implementation of the best or most promising strategies for reducing underage
drinking using an environmental approach. PIRE, The Pacific Institute for Research
and Evaluation provides technical assistance to the individual states through
the Underage Drinking and Enforcement Training Center and Wake Forest University
School of Medicine is conducting an extensive program evaluation, incorporating
an assortment of community assessment strategies and an analysis of computer generated
activity tracking by each of the community coordinators. In Connecticut, OPM is
serving as the funding agent, and staff from the CCSUD has been functioning as
the DSM, Discretionary State Manager. The CCSUD is providing the technical assistance
and support to the local coordinators and coalition membership, and coordinates
correspondence and communication with OPM, OJJDP, PIRE and Wake Forest University.
The seven intervention sites in Connecticut are New London, Torrington, Shelton,
East Haven, Branford, Hamden and New Haven. Wake Forest has recently issued a
composite report to each state and local intervention community, detailing the
data and information gathered in the first year's reporting and an analysis of
survey results targeting youth, enforcement officials and coalition members from
each location. The ultimate results will present both a "process evaluation and
an impact evaluation" component. The information gathered will then be compared
to the profiles of the control communities, to determine the overall effectiveness
and value of the proposed set of prevention strategies. The hope is that the
project's design will later serve as a useful model that other states and communities
will be encouraged to emulate.
Highlights of recent activities:
Each of the seven communities have maintained active coalitions with a broad base of community representation, and in most cases the coalition is directed and guided by the community coordinator hired with grant funding. The groups meet monthly to discuss activities related to the grant and plan some of the education and awareness activities intended to complement and enhance the enforcement operations. Below are some of the significant accomplishments to date:
The 34 intervention sites are required to achieve the following objectives by the end of the 21-24 month contract period, which is June 2006:
- Establish a community coalition to direct and guide activities
- Implement at least two compliance check operations in at least 90% of off premise alcohol outlets per year
- Conduct at least one DWI enforcement operation with a focus on youth
- Conduct at least one additional enforcement operation ( to be selected from the following: alcohol outlet parking lot monitoring / patrolling; shoulder tap operations, party patrols, enforcement of ordinances focused on parents or hosts who permit underage drinking on their premises; training of officers to promote better enforcement)
- Adopt at least one new institutional or public policy or improvement of at least one existing policy related to underage drinking
- Identify and implement an assortment of education / awareness activities to complement and promote the other activities.
In the early stages of the project, each coalition was required to create a specific work plan, intended to address the needs of their local communities based on their preliminary needs assessment and community profile, with the above objectives as their primary focus.
- Each town has conducted two compliance operations targeting at least 90% of the off premise establishments. Two more are anticipated in each jurisdiction before the end of the contract period.
- Each town has conducted one or more additional enforcement operations, to include sobriety check points, roving party patrols and in some cases parking lot surveillance operations (to investigate third party transactions where an adult buys alcohol for a minor.)
- All of the coalitions have hosted merchant education programs for package store owners and staff and in some cases for restaurant / bar permitees as well, in collaboration with the Division of Liquor Control.
- Five of the communities have made extensive outreach efforts to package stores, offering laser lights for identifying false IDs and other information to deter illegal sales.
- New Haven hosted a training for minors interested in participating in Compliance Programs.
- Three communities sent students to MADD Power Camp during the summer months.
- Four towns, Branford, Hamden, East Haven and Shelton have passed the house party ordinance, and have distributed promotional materials to raise awareness in the community.
- Hamden has created a police tip line, for telephone reporting of underage drinking parties or sales.
- Hamden, New London and New Haven have made special efforts to connect and collaborate with local universities to deal with issues related to underage drinking both on and off campus.
- Two communities were recognized at the CCSUD Annual Conference for their efforts; New London for their work as a campus and community collaboration and Torrington for the active role that the local Police Department has played in the coalition's efforts.
- Each coalition has participated in an assortment of community / parent education programs, including health fairs, town festivals, parent forums and other panel workshop sessions.
For more information concerning this initiative, contact:
Geralyn Laut
Community Coordinator
The Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking
CommunityTrials@preventionworksct.org
(January 2006)
