Since the program’s inception, the past 30-day prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drug misuse has declined significantly among middle school and high school aged youth. Learn more about the DFC Program’s effectiveness in the latest End of Year Report Evaluation Report and Executive Summary.
Decreasing youth substance use. Youth substance use significantly decreases in communities with a DFC coalition. The graphs above show the percentage of students in communities with a DFC coalition who reported they had abstained from a drug in the past 30 days.
In addition to the substances listed above, almost all current DFC coalitions have identified opioids—including prescription drugs, heroin, and synthetic opioids like fentanyl—as one of their top five target substances.
Reaching youth across the country. In FY 2019, an estimated 60 million—or 1 in 5—Americans lived in a community with a DFC coalition, and since the program’s inception in 1997, approximately 160 million—or nearly half of all Americans—have lived in a community with a DFC coalition. Currently, the program reaches an estimated 2.4 million middle school students and 3.4 million high school students. By funding coalitions in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, the DFC program helps youth across the country and of all demographic and socio-economic statuses to live drug-free lives.
Funding comprehensive solutions to youth substance use. By requiring representation from each of the 12 sectors, the DFC program helped mobilize an estimated 35,500 members representing everything from youth groups to local media, religious/fraternal organizations to the private sector, and law enforcement (including ONDCP’s HIDTAs) to educational institutions. This diversity in membership helps coalitions connect their communities’ resources to each other and develop comprehensive anti-substance use programming.
