KAMIAH – The Upriver Youth Leadership Council (UYLC) in Kamiah announced Thursday that it has been awarded a one year, $15,000 grant from the New York Life Foundation to support its Teen Center program. The grant program is focused on supporting middle school students as they transition to 9th grade.

The main purpose of this funding is to incorporate Botvin LifeSkills Curriculum, Botvin Prescription Drug Abuse Module Curriculum, Strengthening Families Program, Mini-YAB program, and healthy snack and meal preparation skills components into services already provided by UYLC to aid in their objectives of reducing youth drug and alcohol misuse.

The grant is one of 26 new grants this year from the New York Life Foundation’s “Aim High” program, a partnership with the Afterschool Alliance. This year’s new grants total $1.35 million, and went to youth development organizations in 16 states and the District of Columbia. The organizations were selected from a total of 542 applicants.

The grants mark the fourth year of awards made under the Foundation’s Aim High education initiative, and this year’s grants bring the total awarded under the program to $4.8 million.

The grant to UYLC will support:

Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is an evidence-based substance abuse and violence prevention program. LST has been extensively tested and proven effective at reducing tobacco, alcohol, opioid, and illicit drug use by as much as 80%. Long-term follow-up studies show it produces prevention effects that are durable and long- lasting.

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This year’s grant applicants were asked to submit plans for supporting youth in expanded or enhanced ways to help them successfully transition to high school. As in years past, applicants seeking one-year, $15,000 grants had a special focus: supporting opioid misuse prevention. Across the country, in communities struggling with the misuse of opioids and other substances, afterschool and summer learning programs are playing a critical role by fostering protective factors, increasing resilience among young people, supporting positive youth development, and reducing risk factors among children and youth. Grants will help programs build protective and preventive factors, reduce risk factors for youth and provide other supports for young people and families impacted by substance misuse and the opioid epidemic.

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