CALIFORNIA INVESTS NEARLY $52 MILLION IN COMMUNITY-BASED AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR YOUTH SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Elevate Youth California (EYC) is a statewide program dedicated to preventing California's growing number of youth with substance use disorder. Organizations will receive funding for the three-year grant period through December 31, 2026, to implement the EYC program in historically underserved low-income communities.
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SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is investing $51.8 million in grants to 75 community-based and tribal organizations serving youth to expand substance use prevention programs -- helping young Californians across the state remain healthy by knowing the dangers of and how to prevent substance use disorder.
“We're pleased to continue supporting Elevate Youth California to bolster community-based and tribal organizations whose work prevents young people from using drugs," said
DHCS Director Michelle Baass. “Our first step in eliminating the substance use crisis among our youth is to give them the help they need to lead long and healthy lives."
HELPING CALIFORNIANS: EYC provides grants to youth-focused community-based and tribal organizations that:
- Empower youth to create policy and system changes through civic engagement.
- Implement culturally and linguistically proficient youth development, peer support, and mentoring programs that are healing-centered and trauma-informed. EYC programs use evidence-based and/or community-defined practices that help individuals and communities engage, cope with adversity, heal trauma, and thrive.
- Prioritize harm reduction and public health solutions that create resiliency and prevent substance use disorder.
IMPACT OF EYC GRANTS: “Elevate Youth California provides healthy, positive outcomes and opportunities for Orange County 2S/LGBTQ+ youth and students. This includes providing opportunities for 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth and students to build and strengthen confidence, resiliency, and self-empowerment, and reduce the need to turn to harmful substances as a coping mechanism," said Stephanie Camacho-Van Dyke of the LGBTQ Center Orange County, a returning EYC grantee. “Through community-based engagement, our Elevate Youth California and student leaders have developed a sense of purpose and belonging in Orange County, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness that can often lead to substance use."“DHCS' EYC funding has given Native Dads Network the opportunity to create IMPACTT, Indigenous Mentors Protecting Ancestral Cultural Teachings Team, a coalition of California tribal youth, native organizations, and tribal community members that have united to address the cannabis industry's negative impact on our tribal communities and protect traditional sacred regalia, baskets, land, and other ceremonial items," said Michael Duncan of Native Dads Network, a current EYC grantee. KEY NUMBERS: Since 2019, DHCS' EYC program has engaged 6,793 new diverse stakeholders over five grant cycles. This includes providing services to 68,539 youth, holding 41,185 prevention program events with 296,435 participants, and convening 259 listening sessions. During that same time, EYC awarded nearly 400 grants totaling $257 million. Ninety-three percent of youth participants in EYC self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color – all historically underserved populations.A full list of organizations that received awards in previous funding rounds is available on the EYC website.BIGGER PICTURE: EYC funding is part of a larger effort by DHCS to strengthen California's substance use prevention programs, funded through the Proposition 64 “California Cannabis Tax Fund, Allocation 3, Youth Education, Prevention, Early Intervention, and Treatment" Account. In fiscal year 2023-24, DHCS invested more than $100 million in funding to support statewide substance use prevention programs, with approximately $57.8 million in primary prevention funding allocated to county behavioral health agencies through the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, more than $3 million to support statewide implementation of the California Friday Night Live program, and more than $41 million for the EYC program. For more information about the EYC program, visit www.elevateyouthca.org.To learn more about California's response to the opioid crisis, visit www.opioids.ca.gov.