History
The Dover Coalition for Youth was established in 1992.
Originally organized as a Coalition for Smoke Free Youth, the Coalition’s scope was expanded in 1999 to address the broad scope of substance abuse issues, as well as health and safety concerns related to children and families.
The Coalition creates and supports projects and initiatives that promote positive, healthy, safe and drug-free lifestyles for youth and families by reducing substance abuse among youth. The Coalition is a facilitating entity that fosters coordinated, committed, community collaboration in substance abuse prevention planning, action and evaluation. The Coalition is the driving force behind compiling student surveys, disseminating the information and coordinating community initiatives. Without the coalition the Dover community would not have a coordinated approach that has been successful in reducing substance abuse rates.
The Coalition is currently funded through a federal Drug Free Communities Grant and has two objectives, which include:
- To establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, private nonprofit agencies, and federal, state, and local governments to support the efforts to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth.
- Reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors the minimize the risk of substance abuse.
