STOP Act Grant
Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking (STOP)
Goals:
- Strengthen collaboration and intergovernmental cooperation among the communities of Zion, Winthrop Harbor and Beach Park to implement strategies for the prevention and reduction of underage drinking.
- Enhance community participation and information regarding youth alcohol use that demonstrates a long term commitment to reducing alcohol use among youth
Compliance Checks: Establish protocol for all Zion-Benton community law enforcement to follow: create a procedure manual, identify how many compliance checks to complete per year; establish a reporting format, publicity requirements, and youth training. The Coalition will keep track of the data and look for trend lines and evaluate the process.
Responsible Beverage Service: The Coalition will work with municipalities in Zion, Winthrop Harbor and Beach Park to create uniform ordinances that require training for all sellers and servers of alcohol products. Ordinances will specify how soon after a hire does an individual need to go through training and require re-training every 3 years.
Social Source of Alcohol: Identify social source of alcohol for youth and implement interventions to reduce use. Conduct numerous focus groups at different locations to obtain reliable information on sources of alcohol for youth. Review and organize data and share data with key community stakeholders. Strategize with key stakeholders and youth on action steps to reduce access to social sources. Take action steps with the Coalition and youth to reduce access to social sources. Evaluate effectiveness of those action steps and make changes as necessary.
Increase Knowledge of Local Laws: Educate and engage the tri-community members on local laws and statistics regarding alcohol. Research existing laws and ordinances regarding tobacco and alcohol use and evaluate how to strengthen ordinances to reduce access and availability. Work closely with the Tri-community law enforcement and alcohol servers and sellers as well as the Liquor Control Commissioners and city/village clerks in each community. Create a parent resource guide outlining local laws, ordinances, and data on underage drinking prevention. Resource guides will be distributed to all middle school and high school parents.