Help Save Funding for Prevention Work in Yakima County and across the United States!
The White House’s “skinny budget” cuts would eliminate the programs that support our local prevention efforts including the coalition, mentoring, peer mentoring, shreds and meds, prevention clubs and many of the other programs we are working toward implementing throughout Yakima Valley and across the US. In addition to prevention, harm reduction, mental health programs, and other cuts are also proposed.It's vital they hear from community members in large numbers who see the direct impact of these prevention initiatives in our communities to save these programs! Our voice is crucial. Please act today and share this with others. Thank you for participating in this effort. Together, we can ensure that our community continues to receive the support it needs.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Contact your Congressional delegation (2 Senators and 1 member of the House of Representatives) and ask them to protect and fully fund the Programs of Regional and National Significance in CSAP and work with leaders in your community to do the same.
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HOW TO DO IT
You can email the text below or, if you want to be more formal, you may cut and paste the text to your letterhead and send the letter as an attachment to the email addresses below. Please include your name and address in your closing.
SENATOR PATTY MURRAY:
SENATOR MARIA CANTWELL:
Astor_tellman@cantwell.senate.gov
richard_evans@cantwell.senate.gov
CONGRESSMAN DAN NEWHOUSE:
vicki.holleman-perez@mail.house.gov
christopher.macarthur@mail.house.gov
SAMPLE MESSAGE TEMPLATE
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Subject Line: Save CSAP/Prevention Funding
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I am writing to ask you to ensure the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program is funded at $109 million in FY 2026, the FY 2025 appropriated level, and that it remains in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) rather than be moved to the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) as proposed in the President’s Budget Request.
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The DFC program has proven effective in addressing all youth substance use issues by implementing evidence-based prevention strategies. DFC grantees have reduced population levels of youth drug use in communities throughout the country to levels much lower than national averages because they are organized, data driven, and take a comprehensive, multi-sector approach.
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Cutting the funding for the DFC program would limit the program’s national reach and ability to achieve and document outcomes The program has thrived at ONDCP and would be buried and lost in a huge new bureaucracy like AHA.
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The DFC program has achieved its impressive outcomes with tiny investments of federal resources at the community level, with each grantee only receiving up to $125,000 a year. The DFC program has reduced population level rates of youth substance use for alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and prescription drugs among high school students by 33.9%, 39.8%, 30.5%, and 43.2% respectively since its inception 27 years ago. Please protect the DFC program!
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I am also asking you to please ensure that critical substance use prevention programs in the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) at SAMHSA and the youth mentoring programs in OJJDP remain fully funded in FY 2026.
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Research shows that substance use disorder is an adolescent-onset disease: over 90% of adults struggling with addiction today began using alcohol, tobacco, and/or marijuana as a youth. Though youth are not the primary victims of fatal fentanyl overdoses, preventing their early use is essential. A youth who starts using alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana before age 14 has a 34% chance of developing a long-term substance use disorder. Delaying first use even by a few years dramatically reduces this risk of developing a long-term substance use disorder.
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Evidence-based prevention programs funded by CSAP and OJJDP have proven effective in reducing youth substance use and building resiliency:
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The STOP Act is the only federal program specifically targeting underage drinking—the most commonly used substance by youth—and has driven significant declines in youth alcohol use in funded communities.
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The Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnership for Success (SPF-PFS) program supports community-level, data-driven prevention strategies and has demonstrated substantial population-level reductions in youth substance use.
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OJJDP’s youth mentoring programs help build protective factors in high-risk youth and are associated with a 46% reduction in substance use.
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The administration’s proposal to eliminate CSAP’s Programs of Regional and National Significance (PRNS), along with cuts to OJJDP’s mentoring programs, would be a major setback. These cuts would reduce federal investment in primary substance use prevention from $733 million to $83.5 million, at a time when prevention efforts are already underfunded relative to their impact. Investing in prevention is not only a moral imperative—it’s a fiscal one. Every dollar spent on prevention saves between $2 and $20 in treatment and recovery costs. These programs are a crucial part of the national strategy to reduce substance use, protect youth, and build healthier communities.
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I respectfully urge you to:
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Keep DFC under ONDCP
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Oppose the proposed elimination of CSAP’s PRNS programs in the FY 2026 budget, including the STOP Act and SPF-PFS
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Support full funding for youth mentoring programs under OJJDP
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At a minimum, support a continued resolution of these programs
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Thank you for your continued service and for your commitment to the well-being of our nation’s youth. Your support of these proven prevention programs is critical to addressing the overdose epidemic at its roots.
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Sign,
YOUR NAME, ADDRESS (to show you live in Washington State)