Time To Talk About Underage Drinking in the Nation’s Capital
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Prevention Center/Latin American Youth Center
Washington, DC
Introduction
According to the Report to Congress on the Prevention and Reduction of Underage Drinking, the percentage of youth in Washington, District of Columbia (DC), who binge drink is slightly above the national average. In 2013, past-month binge drinking was reported by 11,000 DC youth, or 17.3 percent of 12- to 20-year-olds. The national average is 15.8 percent. And, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.2 percent of DC high school students reported driving after drinking, compared with 10 percent of their peers nationally.
Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention services for DC youth are delivered through four prevention centers, each serving two of the city’s eight wards that elect members to the DC council. The DC Prevention Center for Wards 1 & 2 is operated by the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC). Similar to other DC wards, Wards 1 and 2 include several neighborhoods and distinct communities. For Wards 1 and 2, these include:
- Adams Morgan, considered to be the Hispanic center of the city;
- Historically black Howard University;
- Federal Triangle, where many government agencies are headquartered;
- Historic Georgetown; and
- Dupont Circle, DC’s center of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual life.
Ward 1 also includes Urban Village, a Section 8 (i.e., federally subsidized) housing complex operated by Sunset Development Company in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. A 2014 Town Hall Meeting provided an opportunity for the Prevention Center/LAYC team to identify some of the prevention needs within the Urban Village complex and to begin forming ties with Urban Village residents and the complex’s governing body.
Event Description
- Members of the Prevention Center/LAYC team, including two youth from the Youth in Action National Youth Prevention Leadership program;
- Urban Village youth and adult residents; and
- Ms. Betel Negash, the resident services manager of Urban Village.
Team members posed a series of questions about the video, such as “Do you think underage drinking is a problem for teens you know?” and “What should be done to keep teens from using alcohol and drugs?” Responses were written on newsprint sheets and became a record for the team to review after the meeting. Adults and youth agreed that underage drinking is a serious problem in the community. Some of their ideas for reducing and preventing underage drinking include:
- Get adults to take more responsibility for monitoring their children’s behavior; and
- Hold more peer-to-peer events where young people can learn from each other about the consequences of drinking and develop their own strategies for avoiding it.
Measures of Success
The Prevention Center/LAYC team believes the meeting was effective in helping them form ties with a cadre of Urban Village residents concerned about underage drinking in their community and interested in helping to prevent the problem. The meeting also led to productive discussions with Urban Village social services providers and key intermediaries. Urban Village leaders agreed to ongoing collaboration with underage drinking prevention resources, and to developing a work plan with specific goals and objectives. The Prevention Center/LAYC team also gained useful information about the knowledge and attitudes regarding underage drinking among Urban Village community members.
Next Steps
The Prevention Center/LAYC team, together with representatives of Urban Village, will develop the proposed work plan. The team also held meetings in 2015 with Ms. Negash to begin planning a follow-up meeting with Urban Village residents, with the goal of attracting more resident supporters—particularly Spanish speakers—and identifying additional joint underage drinking prevention actions. As the collaboration generated by the 2014 Town Hall Meeting expands, a separate meeting between the team and the governing board of Urban Village will be arranged to ensure open communication and observance of board protocols.
Contact
Mary Jo Vazquez
MaryJo@layc-dc.org
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