Sustain the Effort

The parents celebrated the first set of compliance checks in which none of the clerks sold alcohol to an underage buyer. The Danyaville Parents Advocating Prevention (DPAP) contacted the local media, and the Danyaville Times ran a story on the success of the local prevention efforts. The coalition continued to meet regularly and convinced other parents and community members to join their organization. While they celebrated their early successes, they realized that other efforts would be needed to make long-term changes that would prevent underage drinking. The police officers noted that it would be easier to break up the parties if they could prevent them from occurring in the first place. The officers had learned in some of their trainings that other cities had passed keg registration laws. These laws enabled officers to go to the alcohol outlets that sold kegs and find out ahead of time if anyone had purchased large quantities of alcohol. If so, they could go to the address listed and make sure that the party was not for underage drinkers. The parent coalition decided to make the passage of a keg registration law their next objective. To make this action a reality, the DPAP applied for more funding. The funding would provide training to the police and DPAP members, as well as sustain the coalition’s efforts. The DPAP maintained active support for the compliance checks and merchant education, then began the planning process to research the feasibility of pushing for laws related to alcohol availability. To further sustain these efforts, the organization used the Identifying Training Needs Worksheet to determine relevant and interesting trainings for their staff.