For Immediate Release
Date: April 13, 2006

Five community coalitions have been chosen as the pilot sites for The National Association for Children of Alcoholics´ (NACoA) Coalition/Children´s Program Pilot Project. The project is designed to support community coalitions in their efforts to help their community´s addiction treatment programs implement and sustain educational support programs for children of clients in alcohol or drug addiction treatment.

The project was introduced broadly, including a presentation at the annual Forum of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) in February and on both CADCA’s and NACoA’s Web sites. It is being funded through a contract with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

The five grantee sites will use the Children’s Program Kit, developed by NACoA for SAMHSA to facilitate the ability of treatment programs to implement supportive education for the children of their clients. SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information will supply the Kits to each coalition’s task force and to the treatment programs participating in the project.

“We’d like to thank SAMHSA for their support of this important initiative,” said CADCA Chairman & CEO General Arthur T. Dean. “Because children of alcoholics are at a higher risk of developing alcohol problems later in life, coalitions should be looking at ways to support this vulnerable population.”

The coalitions chosen through a competitive application process are

• Historic Triangle Substance Abuse Coalition in Williamsburg, VA
• Hood River County Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention Coalition in Hood River, OR
• Community Solutions for Substance Abuse in Owensboro, KY
• Tarrant County Challenge Coalition in Fort Worth, TX
• Lancaster County Substance Abuse Action Coalition in Lincoln, NE

NACoA will provide technical assistance and training in the community for each grantee coalition and participating treatment programs. James F. Crowley, President of Community Intervention in Minneapolis, and former Board Chair of NACoA, will be the lead consultant for the project and will be assisted by other NACoA staff and trainers.

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics is the national membership and affiliate organization that is the voice for children impacted by parental alcohol and drug addiction. Information about NACoA is available at the organization's website, www.nacoa.org.

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