The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), Community Services and Programs Commission, Behavioral Health Services Division, has awarded grants totaling $205,000 to 16 community coalitions and school districts across Kansas. That includes Communities that Cares here in Reno County. They’re receiving 22-thousand, 500-dollars.

The grants are intended to support efforts to reduce and discourage substance abuse, specifically, underage alcohol use, binge drinking, and/or marijuana use, through the implementation of evidence-based strategies that target high school-aged youth.

Funding for these grants was made available through the Kansas Department of Education’s Safe and Supportive Schools Program working with KDADS. The Safe and Supportive Schools initiative is a federal grant administered through the Office of Safe and Healthy Students (OSHS), U.S. Department of Education.