State Grant Will Help Prevent Underage Alcohol Sales and Service

ATLANTA‚ Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) has awarded a $91,400 grant to The Council on Alcohol and Drugs in order to establish and deliver regular Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service (RASS) Workshops in four counties in Georgia. The workshops help alcohol owners and licensees to become more knowledgeable in preventing selling and serving alcohol to underage clientele. Underage drinking has been shown to be a leading cause of auto accident-related crashes, deaths and injuries in Georgia.

The counties to be served and the main partners working with the Council in those counties are listed below.

1. Learn to Grow, Inc. (Fulton County)

2. Drug Free Coalition of Hall County

3. Rockdale Coalition for Children and Families (Rockdale County)

4. Spalding County Collaborative Authority for Families and Children

The grant will also work with Ms. Michele Stumpe, President/CEO of Evindi, Inc., the designer of and trainer for RASS Workshops, to replicate the success enjoyed by RASS Workshops in other counties in the state.

"The grant [Georgia's RASS Program] will allow for the provision of training, technical assistance and a media campaign to help educate stakeholders and alcohol retailers in Georgia about the purposes and need for RASS Workshops," stated Chuck Wade, President & CEO of The Council on Alcohol and Drugs.

Evaluation Results

2009-2010 results from the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University and the Burruss Institute for Public Service and Research at Kennesaw State University consistently show RASS training workshops to be an effective method for increasing knowledge and awareness of policies and issues related to preventing underage alcohol sales and service. The effectiveness of the workshops is demonstrated through both the knowledge-based pre and post-test comparisons as well as respondents' individual evaluations. Respondents' scores consistently increase on each measure from the pre-test to the post-test. Typically 98-100% of alcohol owners and licensees rate the program positively across all measures.

See below for 2010 evaluation results from Cobb County, but typical of RASS Workshops held elsewhere.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110110/DC27522)

• For more information about the Georgia RASS Program, funded by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety‚ contact Dr. Gregg Raduka at [email protected] or at (404) 223-2384.

SOURCE The Council on Alcohol and Drugs