Underage Drinking Prevention

Interim Program Director

Sarah Martinez

Mission

New Video: FOCUS! Series

The mission of the Travis County Attorney’s Underage Drinking Prevention Program (UDPP) is to create a community consensus that underage drinking is illegal, unhealthy, and unacceptable. The UDPP is housed in the Travis County Attorney’s Office and is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through a grant administered by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

We provide FREE anti-DWI/alcohol awareness presentations and information booths to the Travis, Hays, and Williamson County communities. We also host an Underage Drinking Prevention task force, which is comprised of social service, law enforcement, and other agencies and individuals, including TxDOT, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Travis County Sheriff's Office, the City of Austin Police Department, area school districts, local colleges and universities, and health care providers. Meetings are held on a regular basis.

The UDPP works to:

• Identify the link between underage drinking with more highly visible social issues in addition to drinking and driving such as truancy, binge drinking, unplanned/unwanted sexual encounters, teen pregnancy, fetal alcohol syndrome, HIV exposure, gang/juvenile crime, poor academic performance and alcohol poisoning
• Develop public education programs serving teens and "tweens" for Travis County schools and other youth venues
• Increase community awareness of the Zero Tolerance Law and deter the social availability of alcohol obtained through family, friends, parties and strangers.

Classroom Resources

• Presentations for tweens (elementary & middle school)
• Presentations for teens (high school)

The Problem

Adolescents under the influence of alcohol are apt to act impulsively. With their inhibitions loosened, they take risks they ordinarily wouldn't consider; binge drinking themselves into comas, swimming across lakes in the middle of the night or seducing a stranger. All too often, the result is tragic. If they cause drunk driving crashes, others may also be killed. While gains have been made, in alcohol-related statistics regarding youth under the legal age, drivers under age 21 continue to be over-represented in crashes.

The Numbers

Alcohol continues to be the most widely used substance among Texas students with 71% reporting they had used alcohol at some point in their lives. Average age of first use is 13. The Boston University School of Public Health reports that every 0.02 increase in blood alcohol levels in minors doubles their risk of being injured in a drunken driving accident. Alcohol-related driving crashes, violence, and suicide are the three greatest causes of death among American youth, and Texas leads the nation in the number of youth fatalities in alcohol related crashes (NHTSA). The UDPP expects to make a significant contribution in saving the lives of teenagers by discouraging underage drinking consumption.

Partners

Travis County Underage Drinking Prevention Program (UDPP) is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through a grant administered by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The National Commission Against Drunk Driving, the National Association of Governors' Highway Safety Representatives and the National Safety Council have recognized the UDPP with awards for its education and prevention program.

 https://www.facebook.com/NoDrinkingUnder21UDPP

 https://twitter.com/ZeroAlcoholUDPP