888-Under 21 Project

PENNSYLVANIA

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS PROGRAM AREA(S)
  Outstanding collaborative effort   Youth Programs
  Targets hard-to-reach/at risk population   Alcohol and Other Drugs
       
TYPE OF JURISDICTION    
  County    
       
TARGETED POPULATION(S) JURISDICTION SIZE
  Youth   154,000


PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In 1990, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania implemented an aggressive enforcement and intervention program to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related highway safety problems in the county. This program was successful in reducing crashes, fatalities, and injuries for the general population over a five-year period, however, alcohol-related safety problems involving youth (under 21 years-old), during the same five-year period, actually increased by 12 percent. From 1990 to 1995, 25 youth were killed and 289 were injured in alcohol-related crashes in Schuylkill County.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In response to these discouraging statistics, the 888Under 21 Project was initiated in 1996. The project's goal was to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related crashes, fatalities, and injuries in youth under the age of 21, through the following objectives:

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The 888-Under 21 Project was developed and organized by the North Central Highway Safety Network, a Community Traffic Safety Program sponsored by the Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners. The Network employed several strategies to reach their goal:

RESULTS
Using tips from callers to the 888Under 21 number, police raided three underage drinking parties in 1996, resulting in 50 arrests.

Youth alcohol-involved crashes during 1996 totaled 45, a 22 percent reduction over the 1995 total of 54.

FUNDING
  Section 402:

$12,500

  Private:

$11,600

CONTACT  
  Mark A. Alonge
Regional Director
North Central Highway Safety Network
112 S. Claude A. Lord Blvd.
Pottsville, PA 17901
(717) 628-2414


National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Summer 1997