Putnam County Substance Abuse Prevention

Comprehensive Plan

Submitted By:

Alisha Smith

Putnam County Spf-Sig Project Director

On behalf of:

Putnam County’s Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition

December 20, 2006

Assessment

In determining the need of an area for increased risk factors for substance abuse and related problems, it is important to examine a variety of information and/or indicators. Demographic indicators are one such set of useful information. They can be helpful in describing a population, determining economic disadvantage, measuring and evaluating the health of a population, and indicating a population that may be underserved.

Putnam County was formed in 1848 from Kanawha, Cabell, and Mason counties and named for Israel Putnam, an American patriot who served as a general in the Revolutionary War. Putnam County, sometimes considered a bedroom community of Kanawha County, is one of the fastest growing counties in West Virginia with a 20.4% population change from 1990 to 52,016 in 2003. Approximately one-fourth of that population is younger than 18 years of age.

With the recent expansion of the ten-year old Toyota Manufacturing Plant, Putnam County has experienced an increased economic viability. The per capita personal income, at $25,822.00, is the fourth highest in the state and the county ranks last with the percent of the population below poverty at 9.0%. At present, the county's unemployment rate is 4.4%. The median age is a rather young 37.3 years and 49.2% of the population is male.

Other illustrations of the apparent quality of indicators associated with substance abuse in Putnam County are the relatively low rate of the population below poverty, 9.0%, and the number of adults, 4.2%, and children, 10.1%, who receive food stamps. Even the number of school- aged children who are eligible for free and reduced-priced lunch, at 33.1%, is the lowest in the state.

At first glance the demographic indicators for substance abuse and its related problems, Putnam County appears to be in a much better position than other counties in the state. However, when the county is divided by the Kanawha River, there is evidence that the poverty statistics are significantly higher in the cities and towns north of the river. At least three of the elementary schools in this area have 90% of their students receiving free and reduced priced lunch. This only redefines the fact that Putnam County is often thought of as a place of growth and economic wealth when in fact they are experiencing the same problems and issues as the rest of the state. It just seems to be more easily “hidden” or maybe more accurately the problems of the county are segregated to certain areas. The Putnam Coalition hopes to assist in the reduction of the gap between services provided to certain areas of the county and not others; making sure that although certain issues may be causing more significant problems in some areas more so than others, that awareness of prevention and treatment options are provided to all.

Consequences

The immediate and long-term consequences of substance abuse can be illustrated in many different areas. It is important to stress these consequences in assessing the impact of substance abuse on any individual, home, community and/or society.

Short-term or immediate consequences of substance abuse are evident in Putnam County through its high mortality and fatal automobile crash rates. For example: 77.5% per 100,000 of mortalities are tobacco related, 6.4% per 100,000 of mortalities in the county are related to drug/other substances, 7.5% per 100,000 of mortalities are related to alcohol, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that 40.2% of fatal automobile crashes in Putnam county are alcohol related. Data also indicated that adults between 30 and 54 years old are involved in the most alcohol related fatal crashes in the county. Adults are also seeking treatment at an astonishing rate of 72.3% for alcohol abuse. However, only 3% per 1,000 of adults in the county are being arrested for driving under the influence.

Some of the long term consequences of substance abuse are the economic losses the county suffers due to the high number of fatalities and the high cost of treatment.

Putnam County Economic loss due to Motor vehicle Crashes

Total Crashes	Injury Crashes	Persons Injured	Fatal Crashes	Fatal Injuries	Property Damage Only Crashes	Total Economic Loss
1,408	444	656	12	12	952	$98,911,200

11% per 1,000 of Putnam County residents are being admitted to treatment for alcohol and substance abuse annually, with 55.6% of those adults and youth living in poverty. 8.8% of the 8^th and 11^th graders who took the PRIDE survey reported they had received treatment or counseling for alcohol and/or drug use. Adults in Putnam County who reported they were in treatment for alcohol and substance abuse were 1.0 per 1,000. Of these, 4.6% were receiving treatment for the primary substance of opiates/synthetics, 15.4% for marijuana and 72.3% for alcohol abuse.

Consumption

Consumption patterns characterize the magnitude and nature of substance abuse problems. The following can be used as a guide to learn more about intake habits that are specific to Putnam County residents.

The percent of 8^th and 11^th graders, surveyed in the 2003 WV PRIDE Survey, that reported that they drink 5 or more glasses of alcohol often or binge was 31.6%. While 35.86% of persons age 18 to 25 report that they binge drink. Persons age 26 or older report that they binge drink at a rate of 14.65%. Adults also reported that they heavily consume alcohol (consume one or more drink per day) at a rate of 3.6%, which is rather contradictory to the rate of Putnam County adults that are involved in alcohol related fatalities and/or are seeking treatment for alcohol abuse.

Putnam County youth and adults also consume many other abusive substances at levels higher than the state rate. There are high usage rates of marijuana, cocaine, and tobacco among both adults and youth.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports that 11.93% of persons age 18 to 25 in Putnam County use marijuana. The same organization also rates Putnam County as the fourth highest in the state, at a rate of 4.73%, among people age 18 to 25 who use cocaine.

8^th and 11^th graders, surveyed in the 2003 WV PRIDE Survey, reported using illicit drugs at least once a month at a rate of 20.1%. Of those, 4.7% use inhalants, 3.8% use hallucinogens, 2.9% use heroin, 3.1% steroids, 3.7% use ecstasy, 4.1% use oxycontin, 17.9% reported using marijuana, 4.7% reported using cocaine, 5.3% reported using uppers, 6.2% use downers . All rates were based on a once monthly usage and all exceed the state rate.

Putnam County holds the second highest rate in the number of persons age 26 or older that smoke cigarettes at a rate of 34.67% and in the percentage of persons age 26 or older that use tobacco products at a rate of 42.51%. 8^th and 11^th graders, surveyed in the 2003 WV PRIDE Survey, report that they use tobacco at a rate of 22.9% at least once a month. Of those 19.5% are smoking cigarettes, 8.2% are smoking cigars, and 7.2% of them are using smokeless tobacco.

Mediating Factors

The mediating factors that effect Putnam County the most are perception and easy access. Both adults and youth in the county do not perceive drinking as harmful or risky. With 64.8% of youth perceiving seeing no harm in consuming alcohol, and 52.9% of people age 26 and older not perceiving drinking as risky. Adults and Youth in Putnam County also do not perceive smoking marijuana as harmful. 25% of 8^th and 11^th graders surveyed by the WV PRIDE Survey, perceive no harm in smoking marijuana. While a staggering 47.87% of persons 26 & older see no risks in smoking marijuana.

Youth report that beer, liquor, and wine coolers are easy to get 50-60% of youth report this in fact. They also reported easy access to: inhalants, marijuana cocaine, uppers, downers, hallucinogens, heroin, steroids, ecstasy, and oxycontin. The most unbelievable factor is that even though youth site easy access 37% of them report that parents never or seldom talk to them about drugs.

However, drugs and alcohol aren’t the only substances that adults and youth in the county have a lack of perception about. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 34.4% of Putnam County residents age 26 & older do not perceive smoking cigarettes as risky. Youth also report that smokeless tobacco and cigarettes are easy to get. In fact, 66.3% of youth reported that cigarettes were easy to get.

Capacity Building

Putnam County did not have a pre-existing Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and so the project director with assistance from the Putnam County Community Development Specialist spent much of the year promoting the idea and trying to form one. In turn capacity is still being built.

Different individuals and agencies attend the meeting each month causing the group much difficulty in moving forward (when each group has to be “re taught”). There are however, a core group of about 8 members that regularly attend, are knowledgeable, and bring ideas to the table. These core members represent the WV DHHR, Prestera Center for Mental Health, United Way of Central WV, AmeriCorps, youth, parents, the health care field, the Putnam County Coalition for Community Wellness, and the WV National Guard. Members of the Putnam County Board of Education, law enforcement, the prosecuting attorneys office, probation officers, and victim services have attended but are less faithful. This is an area in which the group still needs to continue to build capacity, as well as, with government officials, the faith based community, and the community at large.

In order to increase the involvement of law enforcement and government officials we plan to implement several appreciation events in the next several years to thank those entities for their assistance and further promote cooperation. Funding for hospitality is needed but the Coalition plans to look into donations wherever possible.

By trying to build the capacity of the coalition the group became more aware of existing resources and services, already being offered, that support prevention efforts in the county. Some of these resources and services are provided through the following agencies: The Adolescent Health Initiative, Prestera Center, RESA, Putnam DHHR, Putnam County Drug Endangered Children Task Teams, RAZE, SADD, The Dare Program, Putnam County Youth Wellness Task Team, Regional Teen Institute, CAMC Institute’s Regional Tobacco Prevention Coalition, Region II Health, Planning & Prevention Networking/training meetings, the Putnam Board of Education Student Assistance Teams and the WV National Guard’s Drug Demand Reduction Program.

The Putnam County Substance Abuse Coalition plans to sustain by joining forces with the Putnam Coalition for Community Wellness in January of 2007. Through this joint effort the group plans not only to focus on Substance abuse prevention but also hopes to incorporate health, fitness, and obesity issues. This joint coalition will continue to be a task team of the Regional Family Resource Network and meet monthly.

The Coalition plans to continue to utilize free spaces to hold their meetings and will seek funding in order to carry out specific programming plans. Funding for staff or some type of administrative support is a strong need. Funding for meals, supplies, promotional materials, training, and travel are also a concern.

The group has already looked into possible grant funding and is especially interested in possible funding for vehicle safety in order to decrease our high DUI fatality rate (BMW, etc.) and obesity and fitness related funding. The Coalition also hopes to partner with existing programs that are already funded, by adding manpower and possibly expanding their efforts some. CAMC Institute offers tobacco related mini-grants to Putnam County which the Coalition also hopes to continue to utilize.

Other than funding for programmatic efforts, supplies, and materials the biggest obstacle facing the coalition is a lack of leadership and time to devote to the project by coalition members. The key to sustaining the Putnam Coalition will be the ability to have a paid staff person or committee chair that will drive and coordinate the group (other than the Executive Director of the RFRN). The Coalition plans to move forward on selecting officers after joining forces with Wellness Coalition in January.

Capacity will be evaluated by:

· The number of Coalition members that attend each monthly meeting will increase to and maintain at 10.

· Each Coalition member will invite someone to the meeting; 3 new members will join by the end of summer 2007.

· Officers will be established by March of 2007.

· 2 key stakeholders from any of the following groups: Law enforcement, city &/or county government, Board of Education, prosecuting attorneys office, probation, victim services, and faith based organizations will become a member by the end of summer 2007.

· The Coalition will apply for at least one grant during 2007.

Planning: Strategy Selection, Implementation, and Evaluation

Through the assessment phase the Putnam Coalition was able to analyze the consequence, consumption, and mediating factors in order to determine prevention needs. The Spf-Sig Project Director utilized the data to increase awareness of existing and potential Coalition members and partners by creating promotional materials, such as bookmarks, highlighting the problem areas in the county. The Assessment phase along with the results of Putnam Counties Community Readiness Assessment allowed the Coalition the ability to strategize based on the specific needs of the county. As shown in the Assessment section, the largest issues affecting Putnam County at this time are: the high mortality rates due to tobacco use, and alcohol related fatal automobile crashes, large scale alcohol and drug use of youth and adults. The issue that most affects Putnam County is the lack of perception and the easy access both adults and youth have to harmful substances.

Through the completion of a Community Readiness Assessment the coalition was able to evaluate resources, obstacles, and the types of efforts that are appropriate to initiate, depending on the readiness of the county. Putnam County received a score of 1 which means that Putnam County residents have no awareness of existing prevention efforts in their county. Thus, the coalition plans to launch an awareness campaign to combat denial and resistance.

The goal of launching a large scale awareness campaign with little to no funding is going to be a challenge. The Coalition does not have the resources available to mass produce promotional materials or hire a communications consultant. Thus, they have decided to take a more grass roots approach which coincides with the community readiness assessment results.

In order to raise the awareness of the issues among Putnam County Residents the Coalition will:

• Make one-on-one visits with community leaders and members.

• Make one-on-one phone calls to friends and potential supporters.

• Point out media articles that describe local substance abuse related incidents.

• Prepare and submit articles for church bulletins, local newsletters, club newsletters, etc. Including the Hurricane Breeze, Putnam Live, Metro Putnam, and the Putnam Herald.

• Post flyers, and posters at schools, churches, grocery stores, gas stations, and local businesses relating to the issue.

• Volunteers from the group will present information to community groups to inform them of the issue. These will include but are not limited to: churches, schools, after school programs, local business staff meetings, senior centers, etc. There are currently Lion’s Clubs in Hurricane, Hometown, the Scott Teays area, and Winfield, there are also several American Legion Posts in which the Coalition hopes to address during the coming year.

During the Putnam Coalition’s Awareness campaign members from the Coalition will also travel to Senior Citizen Centers throughout the county and present on the dangers of prescription drug abuse and small prevention steps that the elderly can take in order to combat abuse among their children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends.

The Awareness Campaign will be evaluated in several manners:

• Coalition members will log the amount of one-on-one visits with community leaders and one-on-one phone calls to friends and potential supporters they make each month and submit the log to the chair or secretary. Each total amount of calls and visits will be determined and compared each year. Each Coalition Member will make at least two calls or visits each month.

• Coalition members will keep media articles that describe local substance abuse related incidents and submit them to the P.R. Chair, or Historian. The P.R. Chair and/or Historian will submit one article every two months to be included in church bulletins, local newsletters, club newsletters, etc.

• The amount of flyers and posters posted at schools, churches, grocery stores, gas stations, and local businesses relating to the issue will be logged. The Coalition will post materials at least twice yearly.

• Each Coalition member will agree to present information to community groups to inform them of the issues. Thus, the Coalition will present at least eight times each year to different organizations.

• Members of the Coalition will speak at two Senior Centers each year.

Youth will also be heavily involved in the awareness campaign. The Coalition plans to utilize existing programs such as RAZE, SADD, and the Dare Program by encouraging them to hold events/do presentations during social and sporting events at schools. This will not only be a positive way to involve youth but will also help to shed a light on substance abuse issues to their peers and parents.

The Coalition also hopes to decrease the perception of harmlessness of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco through sponsorship of substance free youth events and programming. The Coalition will work in collaboration with the Putnam Youth Wellness Task Team to implement programming such as the Keep A Clear Mind Program, Red Ribbon Week Events, Substance Free Lock-ins, Teen Issues Days, peer education, the WV National Guard’s Drug Demand Reduction Program, which includes an indoor inflatable obstacle course and outdoor climbing wall, and poster contests, just to name a few. The WV National Guard’s Drug Demand Reduction Program will also assist our Coalition in presenting awareness instruction and education on the short and long term effects of substance abuse.

Efforts to involve youth will be evaluated by:

• The Coalition will hold at least 2 evening meetings to specifically target youth involvement.

• The Coalition will sponsor 2 annual Substance Free Youth events each year such as a Teen Expo or Pool Party.

• The number of youth that participates will be tracked from year to year.

Merchant Education and appreciation will also play a large role in the awareness campaign and assist the Coalition in combating easy access to illegal substances among the counties youth. The Coalition plans to work with the Putnam County Board of Education’s Student Assistance Teams in order to utilize students in need of community service hours or those interested in community involvement. Students interested in participating will take part in MADD’s National Youth in Action Training. This is a free training that is offered by Putnam County Community Development Specialist, Bill O’Dell. Youth involved take part in the training which will teach them about media talking points as well as prevention efforts they can take. The youth will then assist the Coalition with educating merchants about the effects of selling alcohol and tobacco illegally to youth. The youth could also assist with compliance checks or stings. A positive media campaign will also accompany this strategy. Merchants that do not sell illegally during compliance checks/stings will be awarded a certificate and highlighted in press releases.

Merchant Education will be evaluated by:

• Compliance checks will be completed before and after merchant education to see if the number of merchants that sold illegally to minors decreased after they were educated. Provided that funding is available for law enforcement to compensate their employees with overtime pay.

Awareness played a large role in helping to get the Clean Indoor Air Act passed in Putnam County. The establishment of the Putnam Coalition for Community Wellness showed the Board of Health that the community was committed to the effort. Members of both Coalitions attended Board of Health meetings for months carrying signs, dressing in red, with petitions in hand. This community pressure as well as high youth participation helped this effort become law. These efforts coincide greatly with the tobacco use and mortality data discussed earlier and the Coalition plans to continue these efforts through continued awareness campaigns, merchant education, and promoting cessation programs. It is thought that there will be many quit attempts within the first couple months of the Act taking effect, thus the Coalition will promote cessation programs already offered to the county through FamilyCare, a local medical provider.

Tobacco programming will be evaluated by:

• The Coalition will work with FamilyCare to promote its cessation programs by announcing their class schedule in church bulletins and at presentations made by the Coalition. FamilyCare will track the number of Putnam County residents that participate.

Another area of high concern for the Coalition is the large amount of fatal automobile crashes that occur in the county. As previously discussed the majority of these are alcohol related and people age 30-54 are most likely involved. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) 40.2% of fatal automobile crashes in Putnam County are alcohol related.

Through its year of planning the Putnam Coalition was able to research this a little further and learned that the majority of fatalities occurring in Putnam County are occurring during Fridays in October between the hours of 3-4pm. As shown on the graph below, courtesy of the WV Department of Transportation’s 2002 Crash Data Report.

However according to the data only 3% of adults are being arrested for alcohol related crimes. Thus, the Coalition plans to work more closely with law enforcement and government officials to provide more DUI checkpoints. The Coalition will highly encourage that these be held during Fridays in October between the hours of 3 and 4pm. The Coalition would also like to do more in-depth research into the DUI fatalities in the county to figure out exactly which roads the majority of the fatalities are occurring on, in order to decrease this high county rate. The Coalition will also look into possible funding in order for law enforcement officials to be compensated for their overtime when they are participating in DUI Checkpoints, compliance checks/stings, etc.

Efforts to decrease the number of alcohol related automobile fatalities will be evaluated by:

• Law enforcement will hold at least one DUI checkpoint with the assistance of the Coalition.

• The mortality rate will decrease annually.

The Putnam Coalition will also be looking into several more long term strategies such as creating a Child Advocacy Center so that allegations of child abuse can be thoroughly and efficiently investigated in a safe, child-friendly setting, working with hospitals to establish various protocols to use when working with kids, assisting law enforcement to obtain and maintain decontamination trailers to use during drug busts, and pushing for changes in policies such as those requiring keg registrations and the creation of social hosting laws.

The Putnam Substance Abuse Coalition is excited to join forces with the Putnam Coalition for Community Wellness in January of 2007 and hopes to continue to make great strides toward promoting prevention to the residents of Putnam County.