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The National Capital Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking (NCCPUD)
is a 501 c(3) organization operating since 1997 dedicated to preventing and reducing underage drinking in and around Washington,
D.C. NCCPUD has received eight years of funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of a national program
to reduce underage drinking in 12 states. NCCPUD members include groups, organizations and persons representing communities,
local government, school systems, police departments. Parents, youth and youth-serving agencies. Together
they are addressing the major factors that contribute to the problem of underage drinking—easy access to alcohol, parent
attitudes and behaviors and alcohol advertising.
NCCPUD’s mission is to organize, advocate, educate, and build the capacity of local
public and private organizations, youth and the community to reduce underage drinking and related harms.
NCCPUD’s goals are to: (1) advocate for environmental policies and
practices to reduce underage drinking and unhealthy outcomes related to all substance abuse; (2) build the capacity of the
community to develop and implement evidence-based strategies to protect young people from the risk of alcohol and other drugs;
(3) use media and communications as a education tool to change public perspectives and attitudes to lead to the reduction
of underage drinking and related harms; (4) organize and support grassroots response to the consequences of substance abuse
in the community; and (5) involve youth at every level within the organization to effectively achieve the mission of NCCPUD.
NCCPUD Youth Advocates represent various high schools in the District. Currently,
we have trained over 400 advocates as peer leaders on the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
Our Approach
NCCPUD has a unique approach involving young people to deliver
education and prevention messages to their peers through school- and community-wide activities responsive to the needs of
their particular locations. Projects include peer-led classes and forums; youth workshops, conferences,
prevention education and leadership training; awareness-raising activities and legislative work. Independent
studies have shown that students in schools with an established Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter are
more aware and informed about the risks. An important element in prevention theory is how risk and resiliency
factors unify the description of community need and predict a framework for programming. According to the
research, prevention programs must be designed to enhance resiliency and protective factors and move toward reversing or reducing
known risk factors. NCCPUD applies this prevention knowledge through its implementation design and strategies.
Specifically, the NCCPUD model and programming responds to the following documented risk factors:
Community-Based Risk Factors · Lack
of opportunities for youth to become involved with the community ·
Easy availability of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs · Community attitudes,
practices, policies, or laws favoring substance use and misuse
Individual-Based Risk Factors·
First use of any substance during early teen years Peer Risk Factors
· Greater influence by and reliance on peers
rather than on parents for advice and guidance · Friends who use
alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs Family-Based Risk Factors· Family
history of alcoholism · Parents involving youth in the parents’
use or misuse of ATOD; i.e., “light my cigarette”; “Get me a beer” · Encouraging
or ignoring teen use of alcohol and other drugs · Parent/caregiver’s
use/abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs Concurrently, NCCPUD tailors prevention efforts to foster youth resiliency by applying the following evidence-based
principles: · Reducing
the availability of alcohol and tobacco for the underaged · Promoting
skills to resist alcohol and tobacco use · Building
social competency skills · Promoting normative education designed to
correct students’ misperceptions about their peers’ alcohol/tobacco use · Providing
interactive methods, such as peer discussion groups · Launching
youth media campaigns and lobbying for policy changes Finally,
NCCPUD utilizes several of CSAP’s Prevention Strategies. The program focuses on information dissemination through, prevention
education, alternatives, problem identification, community based process and environmental approach.
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