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The FOCUS Community Program Alcohol and other substance
abuse is a serious problem that takes its toll on
individuals, families and society as a whole. The
estimated cost to Ontario of alcohol and substance
abuse is 9.2 billion per year in health care, law
enforcement, and lost labour productivity. Alcohol
use alone accounts for about one-half of these costs.
It is estimated that 10 percent of all deaths in Ontario
result, directly or indirectly, from alcohol consumption.
The Ministry of Health developed a five-year, $12-million
FOCUS Community Program to prevent alcohol and other
drug abuse in 22 communities across Ontario that have
demonstrated a commitment to addressing this issue.
Children and youth are key audiences, with each project
being asked to allocate at least one third of its
budget to reaching young people.
The FOCUS Community Program builds on the success
of a demonstration project to prevent alcohol and
substance abuse at sites in 11 communities. An evaluation
found that the demonstration project provided a promising
model for preventing alcohol and other substance abuse.
Based on these findings, as well as national and international
research, the Ministry has developed a 5-year provincial
FOCUS Community Program for implementation at the
11 existing sites, as well as at 11 new ones.
In all of the sites, a local agency with a mandate
to prevent substance abuse will take the lead in implementing
FOCUS. The Centre for Addiction & Mental Health had
participated in the development of the FOCUS program
and the selection of the sites. At the invitation
of the Ministry, these agencies prepared their FOCUS
applications in conjunction with local partners, such
as injury prevention coalitions, businesses, schools,
health agencies, recreation centres, police, and voluntary
groups. About 220 groups in total are partners in
a FOCUS Community Program.
Ministry funding will support program costs and staff
resources. The participating communities have matched
ministry funding with local in-kind resources on a
1:1 basis.
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