The Decatur Community Partnership (DCP) serves Decatur and Macon County, Illinois, a mid-size community of approximately 115,000 people with a declining manufacturing base. DCP is a coalition of local service providers, educators, law enforcement, youth, parents, media and health organizations. The purpose of DCP is to collaborate with community organization leaders to effectively reduce substance abuse among youth and adults and to address the improvement of the overall health and quality of life factors of Macon County Residents. This coalition, in existence for 15 years, has been the recipient of at least nine governmental and private foundation grants, bringing in several million dollars to the community. Numerous highly successful model projects and initiatives have been conducted including: Turning Point, Family Investment Project, Communities Can, Teen Reach, Youth Engagement Strategy (Y.E.S.), and Teen Court. Y.E.S. and Teen Court programs exist today.
Currently, DCP manages a three year federal grant funded through the Drug Free Communities Support Grant. This project centers around the theme of coalition building with the goal of reducing the rate of substance use and abuse by high school students and over time, among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse. This project is implemented through a network of strategy teams and partnerships with other area prevention providers. DCP also serves as an umbrella agency for grant applications, and as a community resource for materials on substance abuse prevention topics, grant opportunities, and teleconferences. As a member of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) information on national trends of alcohol and other drug use by youth and adults is available from DCP.
The DCP board recently voted to serve as the administrative agency for a five year, one million dollar Federal grant titled the Weed & Seed project. If funded, the purpose of this grant is a two tiered process to first rid a targeted neighborhood of hard core criminal and drug activity through arrests and prosecutions. Secondly, human service agencies will provide restoration to the area through the delivery of effective programs.
In 2006, DCP was the recipient of a $450,000 grant through ENACCT in alliance with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. These monies will be spent over a three year period to conduct the ENACCT (Education Network to Advance Cancer Clinical Trials) project. The intent of this project is to increase awareness and improve access to cancer clinical trials. Lead Trainers who are trained by the National ENACCT staff will be engaging and educating our community about the barriers that exist for participation in clinical studies with hopes of eliminating myths which surround the topic.
Mission Statement
To promote collaborative programming among community organizations and encourage the integration of community services to effectively reduce substance abuse among youth and efficiently improve the quality of life and the health of Macon County residents.