Senators Carper, Coons announce $250,000 in grants for Delaware drug-free community organizations

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons (both D-Del.) announced grants through the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the Drug Free Community Support Program to provide local community coalitions resources to prevent youth substance use, including prescription drugs, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol.

The $89 million in Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Drug Free Community (DFC) Support Program grants went to 719 local drug prevention coalitions and is the largest number of single-year grantees since the program’s founding. In Delaware, there were two grantees. Duffy’s Hope (new grant) will receive $125,000 to fund the Lighthouse Project Prevention Coalition and Open Door (continuation grant) will receive $125,000 to fund the Southern New Castle County Communities Coalition. 

“As a long-time mentor in the Wilmington community who has spent a large part of his career focusing on strengthening families, I understand that not only is providing positive role models for youth in our community the right thing to do, but it is also an investment that will pay dividends in the future,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Carper. “These long-standing Delaware organizations have provided a safe and positive outlet for our youth and their families for years and, with this federal funding, they can continue this shared mission.”

“I am extremely proud of these Delaware organizations who have been awarded these grants,” said Sen. Coons, Ranking Member of the Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee and who successfully fought to increase the funding for DFC grants. “For Duffy’s Hope and Open Door, who have been very active in supporting their communities, and their work in educating young people about substance abuse in their communities, this funding comes at a critical time to support their community coalitions to educate Delaware’s young people about the dangers of drugs.”

Last summer, Sens. Carper and Coons’ office held a community roundtable with ONDCP to discuss ways the ONDCP could be more helpful to Delaware. One of those ways was educating community groups about ONDCP DFC grants.

The DFC Program, created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, is the Nation’s leading effort to mobilize communities to prevent youth drug use. Grounded in the philosophy that local problems need local solutions, the DFC Program is designed to support communities as they mobilize individuals and organizations to reduce youth substance use. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is responsible for the day-to-day management of the DFC Program.

For Fiscal Year 2017, the new DFC grant awards represent a total Federal investment of $12.6 million in grants. DFC continuation grants represent a total Federal investment of $76.7 million. The DFC Support Program is a matching Federal grant where each community provides a minimum of one-to-one match in local funding for each Federal dollar awarded, thereby doubling the government’s investment while leveraging local support.

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