PAYS Coalition awarded federal grant for youth substance prevention
BY: Chris Fulton | September 18, 2024 | Read the original article on Mountain Home Observer
The PAYS (Prevention Awareness Youth Support) Coalition, serving Baxter and Marion County, has been awarded a Federal Drug Free Communities (DFC) Grant. The grant provides $125,000 annually for five years, totaling $625,000.
PAYS is a group of local community members working to improve the quality of life for youth. They focus on providing awareness that supports health, safety, and prevention education regarding prescription medications, opioids, nicotine, and other drugs.
The DFC Support Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen local partnerships aimed at reducing youth substance use.
The Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership (ARORP) announced that PAYS is one of seven Coalition Partnership Empowerment (COPE) coalitions in the state to receive this grant. The total investment in Arkansas’s cities and counties amounts to $4,375,000.
Other Arkansas coalitions awarded DFC grants include:
- Sebastian County Opioid Task Force (Fort Smith)
- Opioid Prescription Drug and Synthetics Coalition (O.P.P.S.) (Blytheville)
- Newton County Partners in Prevention Coalition (Jasper)
- Greene County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition (Paragould)
- Amazing Angels Coalition (Lake Village)
- Carroll County Hometown Health Coalition (Green Forest)
Representatives from PAYS and S.E.A.D.s (Student Education Against Drugs), the youth portion of the coalition, will attend a press conference and luncheon held by ARORP on Thursday, September 19 in Little Rock. The event will honor the seven coalitions.
PAYS plans to hold a local press conference in the near future, with the date to be announced.
