The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) has awarded The City of York and York College of Pennsylvania with grants to support their initiatives aimed at preventing underage and high-risk drinking.

PLCB awarded $11,466 to York College and an additional $11,500 to the York City Police Department.

York College will use its PLCB grant to meet specific updated goals for the York College community, according to Karen Jones, director of counseling services.

"While York College has had a long tradition of addressing illegal and high-risk substance abuse, we continually re-evaluate and renovate to meet the needs of the current student population," she said.

Those goals are to set standards and expectations for new students regarding York College's dry campus environment prior to their arrival; to continue to reduce hazardous alcohol use, and the detrimental and damaging consequences of high-risk drinking; to continue to enhance the role and effectiveness of the LEAD (Life Enhancement and Development) Coalition, which addresses issues of high-risk drinking among York students on campus and in the surrounding community; and to gather data that will advance a campus environment that promotes a healthy social, academic and residential environment.

To meet these goals, York College will continue to require new students to complete an online alcohol education course titled "Alcohol Wise" before they arrive on campus in the fall. The program, which was initiated at the start of the 2007-08 academic year, ensures that students are informed about the College's substance-use policies and their enforcement. It also teaches them how alcohol is absorbed by the body and its effects on academic progress and social behavior.

"After seeing a reduction in first-time alcohol offenses last year, we sought and were awarded by PLCB additional funding to continue the program," Jones said.

The PLCB grant will also be used to administer to students the CORE Survey, which has been utilized by York College every two years since 1999. The data from the survey includes use percentages for students, their opinions about the campus environment and specific perceptions of fellow students' use.

"We will compare the data from the CORE Survey to past years to identify positive areas of impact and determine where we need to assert more efforts in our campus/community approach," Jones said.

Finally, the grant will be used to enhance LEAD (Life Enhancement and Development), York's long-standing campus/community coalition. York City Police Department will join the coalition this year.

The Coalition seeks to promote and encourage health consciousness and healthy behaviors through recognition of positive behaviors, activities and programs, specifically targeting chemical use. 

"LEAD fosters relationships on and off campus to educate and ensure that all members of the campus community are aware of current institutional policies and programs on alcohol and drug use," Jones said. "LEAD members recognize the ongoing need to have students, staff, faculty and administrators share responsibility for reducing the risk of harm as a result of high-risk or illegal use of chemicals."

York City Police will focus its PLCB grant on the Southwest neighborhood, the area surrounding York College.

The grant will provide the resources necessary to conduct additional enforcement efforts targeting underage drinking and other high-risk alcohol uses such as DUI. Additionally, the grant will provide for equipment and training designed to improve our enforcement efforts.

"The City of Yorklooks forward to collaborating with YorkCollegeon this initiative," said Lt. Jim Beveridge, who heads the Community Services Division of the York City Police Department. "This is one of many efforts being made to improve the quality of life in the Southwest Neighborhood, including the Southwest Patrol and our ongoing crime prevention efforts through the Community Services Division."

Sixty-eight organizations throughout the state will receive PLCB grants, totaling $700,000, this year. Since 1999, the PLCB has awarded $3.75 million in grants to 233 entities.