Grants on tap to fight substance abuse

Advertiser Staff

Informational meetings are scheduled throughout the state on the $8.4 million State Incentive Cooperative Grant Program to combat substance abuse among Hawai'i's youth.

The program will provide up to $150,000 per year for three years to about 18 community partnerships that implement a substance abuse prevention program for youths 12 to 17 years old. The aim of the grant is to reduce alcohol, tobacco and drug use among youths through a system of community partnerships and to coordinate, leverage and redirect state substance abuse prevention resources.

The grant was awarded in September 2000 and expires in 2003. The Hawai'i Department of Health's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, which administers the program, will publish a request for proposals in July and award contracts before December.

At the meetings, the department and the University of Hawai'i Center on the Family provide information on how to apply for grants, organize Community Substance Abuse Prevention Partnerships and identify local substance abuse prevention needs.

Meetings run through July.

For more information, contact the department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division at 692-7506.

The meeting schedule follows:

On O'ahu

• Today: 5-7 p.m., J. B. Castle High School cafeteria, Kane-'ohe.
• July 11: 5-7 p.m., Leeward Health Center, 860 Fourth St., Pearl City.

On Kaua'i

• July 10: 5-7 p.m., State Office Building at UH Cooperative Extension Service, Lihu'e.

On Hawai'i

• Tomorrow: 5-7 p.m., Kealakehe High School, Kailua, Kona.
• Thursday: 5-7 p.m., Komohana Agricultural Complex, Hilo.

On Lana'i

• July 5: 5-7 p.m., Lana'i Public Library.