Who We Are
Our goal is to make Dunn County the safest, healthiest, and most caring county in the region. We also strive to collaborate with Dunn County resources in order to develop dynamic programming to serve youth and families.
Our efforts focus on:
- ATOD (alcohol, tobacco and other drug) related issues,
- Parenting
- Mental health
- Youth engagement
- Emerging concerns
Our History
Unofficially forming in 1988 as an advisory group, the Community Advisory Committee provided feedback and guidance on alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention activities in the community. The committee developed a county-level AOD abuse prevention plan, which focused on pooling resources to conduct county needs assessments, share information, promote collaboration, and coordinate training. In 1993, the group became known as the Drug Free Partnership of Dunn County, and in 1994 it was renamed the Dunn County Partnership for Youth. Over the years, no matter what it has been called, this group has maintained one important commitment: Collaboration.
What We Do
We use our collective energy, experience, and influence to address drug and underage drinking problems in our county. We develop strategies for addressing every aspect of our county’s substance abuse problem – prevention, intervention, treatment, aftercare and law enforcement, but with a particular focus on prevention. We do this through General Partnership Meetings and through our Long and Short Term Action Teams.
How We Are Funded: Drug-Free Communities Grant
The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program has been a central, bi-partisan component of our nation’s demand reduction strategy since its passage in 1998. The consistent and steady growth of the program in terms of both appropriations (from $10 million in FY 1998 to $87.4 million (after sequestration) in FY 2013) and the number of grantees (from 92 original grantees to 2000 grantees) is a testament to the program’s popularity. The premise of the DFC program is simple – that communities around the country must be organized and equipped to deal with their individual substance abuse problems in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
DFC Grantees consist of twelve community sectors: youth, parents, business community, media, schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement agencies, religious or fraternal organizations, civic and volunteer groups, healthcare professionals, state and local and/or tribal government agencies with expertise in the field of substance abuse, and other organizations involved in reducing substance abuse.
The program explicitly recognizes that federal anti-drug resources must be invested at the community level. This program is unique in that federal support is contingent upon a community demonstrating local commitment and resolve to address its drug problem, before it is eligible to receive any federal funds. Coalitions are only eligible to receive as much federal funding as they can match, dollar for dollar, with non-Federal support, up to $125,000.