Oklahoma State University-Main Campus receives $60K Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Projects of Regional and National Significance grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Creek county prevention partnership (C2P2) - the creek county prevention partnership (C2P2) is a drug-free communities (dfc) coalition dedicated to reducing youth substance use through community collaboration and evidence-based prevention strategies. Using the strategic prevention framework (spf), C2P2 works with schools, law enforcement, healthcare providers, businesses, youth-serving organizations, parents, and community members to address conditions that contribute to underage drinking and other substance use behaviors. The C2P2 stop act project will enhance existing prevention efforts to reduce alcohol use among youth ages 12-20 in creek county, Oklahoma. The project will implement evidence-based environmental strategies designed to reduce youth access to alcohol, strengthen protective factors, and promote healthy community norms. Key objectives include decreasing past 30-day alcohol use among twelfth-grade students; increasing community education activities focused on underage drinking prevention; implementing a responsible beverage service and sales (rbss) refresher training initiative; increasing adoption of alcohol-related policies and best practices among alcohol retailers and servers; expanding rbss participation; strengthening partnerships with law enforcement to conduct alcohol compliance checks (accs); and reducing local acc violation rates. The coalition will utilize public awareness campaigns, stakeholder engagement, community mobilization, data-driven planning, and policy enhancement efforts to address local conditions associated with underage drinking. These strategies will support long-term reductions in youth alcohol use while increasing awareness of the risks associated with underage drinking among youth, parents, and community members. The stop act project will focus on the rural communities of bristow, drumright, mannford, and oilton in creek county, Oklahoma. These communities face unique prevention challenges due to geographic isolation and limited access to resources. According to recent u.s. Census bureau estimates, approximately 9,700 youth ages 10–19 reside in creek county. The project will focus on youth ages 12–20 and the community sectors that influence youth access to alcohol and perceptions of underage drinking. Program outcomes will be measured using the four stop act core measures and data collected through the Oklahoma prevention needs assessment (opna), which is administered biennially in participating schools. Data from sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth-grade students will be used to assess changes in alcohol use, perceptions of risk, parental disapproval, and peer disapproval. These measures will guide continuous program improvement and help evaluate the effectiveness of coalition-led prevention efforts.