Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program – United States

Goals

• The program has two goals:
  • Support community coalitions that work to prevent and reduce substance use among youth 18 years and younger by establishing and strengthening collaboration among communities, public and private nonprofit agencies, and federal, state, local, and tribal governments.
  • Reduce substance use among youth and, over time, reduce substance use among adults by:
    • Addressing the factors in a community that increases the risk of substance use.
    • Promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance use.

Funding Information

• Expected total program funding over the performance period: $31,250,000
• Expected total program funding per budget period: $6,250,000
• Funding range per applicant per budget period: Up to $125,000
• They plan to award projects for five 12-month budget periods for a five-year period of performance.

Strategies and Activities

• Provide information about youth substance use. This can include educational presentations, workshops or seminars, and data or media presentations like public service announcements (PSAs), brochures, town halls, forums, web communication, social media.
• Build skills so youth, adults, and community members can build positive social skills and decision-making capabilities. You can do this through a combination of activities such as workshops, seminars, or activities designed to increase the skills of participants, members, and staff. Examples include training and technical assistance, parenting classes, strategic planning retreats, and model programs in schools.
• Provide support to increase opportunities that reduce risk factors or enhance protective factors for youth and young adults. Create opportunities for participation in activities that reduce risk or enhance protection. These might include alternative activities, mentoring, referrals for services, support groups, and youth clubs.
• Increase access, reduce barriers, and improve connections between systems and services that help prevent youth substance use. Improve systems and processes to increase the ease, ability, and opportunity to use them. These might include opportunities to access transportation, housing, education, safety, recreational facilities, and culturally sensitive prevention initiatives.
• Change consequences to incentivize positive practices and disincentivize negative practices. Increase or decrease the probability of a behavior by altering the consequences for performing that behavior. These might include recognition programs for merchants who pass compliance checks and publicizing businesses that are not compliant with local ordinances.
• Change the physical design of the community to reduce the risk for and enhance protection against youth substance use. These might include re-routing foot and car traffic, adjusting park hours, and reducing the number and location of places where people can access alcohol or tobacco. DFC federal funds or your cost sharing contributions cannot support landscape, lighting, or construction projects.
• Educate and inform about policies that reduce access and availability to substances among youth. These may include written procedures, by-laws, proclamations, rules, or laws, to the extent that applicable law and policies allow. These might include workplace initiatives, law enforcement procedures, and practices, public policy actions, and systems change.

Eligibility Criteria

• The community coalition must be a 501(c)(3) organization, or the coalition can partner with an outside organization that is eligible to receive federal funds to serve as the Fiscal Agent on behalf of the coalition. Fiscal agents can include the following types of organizations:
  • State governments or their bona fide agents (includes the District of Columbia).
  • Territorial governments or their bona fide agents in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.
  • County governments or their bona fide agents.
  • City or township governments or their bona fide agents.
  • Special district governments or their bona fide agents.
  • Independent school districts.
  • Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education.
  • American Indian or Alaska native tribally designated organizations.
  • Public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities.
  • Native American tribal organizations, other than federally recognized tribal governments.
  • Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status, other than institutions of higher education.
  • Private institutions of higher education.
  • State-controlled institutions of higher education.
  • For-profit organizations other than small businesses.
  • Small businesses.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.