Project Characteristics Program Areas Innovative and replicable Adaptable Underage Drinking Targeted Audience Jurisdiction Travis County High Schools Travis County, TX

Goals

• To educate teens on the reality of underage drinking and impaired driving.
• To increase community awareness of the Zero Tolerance law and deter the social availability of alcohol obtained through family, friends, parties, and strangers.
• To identify the link between underage drinking with more highly visible social issues in addition to drinking and driving, such as truancy, binge drinking, unplanned/unwanted sexual encounters, teen pregnancy, fetal alcohol syndrome, HIV exposure, gang/juvenile crime, poor academic performance, and alcohol poisoning.

Strategies

Adolescents under the influence of alcohol are apt to act impulsively.  With their inhibitions loosened, they take risks they ordinarily wouldn’t consider; binge drinking themselves into comas, swimming across lakes in the middle of the night or seducing a stranger.  All too often, the result is tragic.  If they cause drunk driving crashes, others may also be killed.  While gains have been made in alcohol-related statistics regarding youth under the legal age, drivers under age 21 continue to be over-represented in crashes.  In Travis County in 1998, 147 drinking drivers involved in crashes were under 21.  Ten were involved in fatal or incapacitating crashes.  Alcohol was a factor in 55% of all Austin traffic fatalities from 1995-1999.

The Travis County Underage Drinking Prevention Program (UDPP), a division of the Travis County Attorney’s Office, works to create a community consensus that underage drinking is illegal, unhealthy, and unacceptable.  The task force developed the video, “Why Risk It?”, to depict what happens in the legal system when an 18-year-old is arrested for DWI, and also to explore other tragic outcomes of underage drinking.  The young person in the video discusses how he or she is living and the real facts about his or her “freedom”.  The presentation is shown at Travis County High Schools as a preventive measure for the community.

Results

• In FY 07 over 500 presentations were given to area schools, youth agencies, PTAs, and community groups.
• There has been substantial media coverage on the project.
• There has been a very high demand for the program services.

Funding: Contact: Costs were not identified for this particular Project.  It was paid for with budgeted funds made up of a federal grant and matching funds comprised of county contribution, earned media, and in-kind county services.  Gloria Souhami Program Director Travis County Attorney’s UDPP Travis County Attorney’s Office PO Box 1748 Austin, TX 78767 (512) 854-4229 (512) 854-9316 (fax) Gloria.souhami@co.travis.tx.us Jurisdiction Size: Travis County, TX