MONTCLAIR, N.J., September 4, 2015 — Dr. Robert Reid, Professor in Family and Child Studies, has recently been award a 5 year award for the Montclair State University / Paterson (NJ) Substance Abuse (SA), HIV and Viral Hepatitis (VH) Capacity Building Initiative. The award will enable Project C.O.P.E (Communities Organizing for Prevention and Empowerment) at Montclair State University, with the support of Passaic County Community College and Rutgers University. The grant will allow Project C.O.P.E to develop and coordinate comprehensive evidence-based community-based substance abuse, HIV, and viral hepatitis (VH) prevention services targeting underserved and at risk African American and Hispanic individuals, including the following subpopulations: adolescents (13-18), young adults (19-24), LGBTQ in the city of Paterson, New Jersey.
The proposed project will focus on implementing culturally tailored evidence-based substance abuse and HIV prevention programs with proven effectiveness that have been endorsed as best practice models by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based and Effective Programs (NREPP). Project C.O.P.E.’s prevention team will be trained in delivering the CDC- and CSAP-endorsed prevention curricula to program participants. In addition, building upon current work in the community, environmental prevention strategies will include social marketing and social media messages that use culture, ethnicity, history, and core values as a medium to motivate behavioral change.
This initiative intends to serve between 400 to 500 youth and young adults annually, with approximately 2,500 unduplicated at-risk adolescents and young adults being served over the five-year project period.
