Torrance Community Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force
Torrance County, New Mexico
Soberfest 2014 Advances Underage Drinking Prevention
Introduction
The Partnership for a Healthy Torrance County (PHTC) serves a frontier
county in central New Mexico that includes three school districts. The
Partnership, which recently completed 10 years as a Drug Free
Communities grantee, identifies local health priorities in The Torrance County Community Health Improvement Plan.
In the 2011–2014 plan, PHTC recommended substance abuse prevention as
the second-highest priority because multiple risk and health indicator
rates for the county were worse than those for the state or the nation.
PHTC has a substance abuse task force concerned with preventing
underage drinking and other youth substance abuse in the county. Town
Hall Meetings to prevent underage drinking, supported by the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), are embedded
in PHTC work plans and are proving effective in changing community norms
and mobilizing residents around prevention. Soberfest is becoming an
annual event.
Event Description
Moriarty is a business and cultural hub for Torrance County and boasts a
modern civic center capable of hosting events for several hundred
people. This was the site picked for PHTC’s “Soberfest” Town Hall
Meeting, held on Sunday afternoon, September 7, 2014. Youth and adult
participants had a variety of options for learning about current levels
of underage drinking and other problems in the county, gaining skills,
and supporting prevention messages and actions. Sixteen parents, for
example, completed the Power of Parents
training. Power of Parents was originally developed by Mothers Against
Drunk Driving (MADD) to “educate parents about the dangers of underage
drinking and give them the tools they need to start talking with their
kids about alcohol.” Attendees also could use the Sheriff’s Department
Golf Cart & Goggles DUI [driving under the influence] simulation to
learn how alcohol affects driving abilities. Live dance performances
attracted young people, many of whom had entered a “Stay Safe. Stay
Sober. Stay Healthy” poster and poetry contest sponsored by The Independent.
This local newspaper ran pro bono ads for Soberfest as part of their
sponsorship and later published winning contest entries. Parent pledge
cards were collected from adults who agreed to 1) set a family rule of
no alcohol use before age 21, 2) set consequences for breaking
zero-tolerance and no-use rules, and 3) keep children away from alcohol
in their homes. Throughout the event, PHTC staff and trained volunteers
mingled with participants, engaging them in discussions about teen
substance abuse and its prevention.
Measures of Success
A total of 153 community members of all ages, plus 59 youth and adult
volunteers, participated in the second annual PHTC Soberfest Town Hall
Meeting. The 16 parents who completed the Power of Parents training
workshop provided positive feedback about the training and the handbook
they received. The day’s activities and discussions increased community
interest in underage drinking prevention and support for PHTC’s efforts
toward countywide adoption of a social host ordinance.
Next Steps
PHTC will use feedback obtained at the 2014 Soberfest event in its
efforts to get county officials to adopt and enforce a local social host
ordinance. PHTC also will disseminate “Parents Who Host Lose the Most”
campaign messages and materials to increase awareness of their
liability under a statewide law passed during the 2014 legislative
session. This law
makes selling or giving alcohol to a minor a fourth-degree felony. To
reach children before they are likely to begin drinking, PHTC will
partner with local elementary schools to add Protecting You/Protecting Me
(PYPM) to classrooms. (The PYPM program is included in SAMHSA’s
National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices.) PHTC will
also continue to work regionally with other prevention coalitions on environmental strategies to reduce alcohol access. Efforts will focus on local zoning ordinances to reduce alcohol outlet density and ban the sale of alcohol miniatures, as well as on a state taxation policy to increase the tax on alcohol sales.
Contact:
Billie Clark
bclark@lobo.net
Patricia Lincoln
plincoln@lobo.net
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