NCJ Number
191211
Date Published
March 2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This bulletin summarizes the problem of underage drinking, describes the Enforcing the Underage Drinking laws (EUDL) Program and the design of the National Evaluation of the program, and summarizes the key findings from the first wave of data collection (1999).
Abstract
In the United States, alcohol use by people younger than 21 is a pervasive problem. The 2000 Monitoring the Future study found that 51.7 percent of 8th graders, 71.4 percent of 10th graders, and 80.3 percent of 12th graders reported that they had consumed alcohol at least once in their lifetime. In 1997 the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention launched what is now known as the Enforcing the Underage Drinking laws (EUDL) Program. The EUDL was created to develop a national, comprehensive response to the serious challenges posed by alcohol abuse by minors. Following a $25 million appropriation for fiscal year 1998, each State and the District of Columbia received a grant of $360,000 to "support and enhance efforts by States, in cooperation with local jurisdictions, to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors (under age 21)." In addition to block and discretionary grants, the EUDL Program includes several training and technical assistance efforts. The evaluation of the program is designed to provide information and data on the implementation of the program and its effects on law enforcement activities, youth alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems in local communities. The process evaluation involved a key actor survey, case studies, a law enforcement agency survey, and a youth survey. The impact evaluation compared communities that received the most intensive interventions (communities that received subgrants under the EUDL discretionary grant program) with communities that did not receive such intense interventions. The 1999 sample included 52 communities that received subgrants and 52 matched controls in 9 of the 10 discretionary grant States. Overall, the implementation of the National Evaluation went well in its first year. Whether the resources and strategies that are being marshaled to address the underage drinking problem will make a measurable impact remains to be seen. The first wave of data collection has identified two central challenges in implementing the program: coordinating the efforts of diverse agencies and effectively defining the nature and scope of each State's program. 8 figures and 53 references