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Register today to save your spot at the 10th Annual Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program Conference. Sponsored by OJJDP and the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center, the conference,
"A Notable History: Forging the Future," will be held August 21–23 in Nashville, TN. Registration is available online.

For the past 10 years, this event has been the premier research-based conference on underage drinking prevention and enforcement. The conference will highlight communities, programs, and other initiatives that have successfully implemented science, performance, and data-driven strategies to support the reduction of youth access to alcohol.

To lead off EUDL's 10th anniversary conference, OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores will deliver the keynote address. This year's conference will celebrate the many accomplishments of community and enforcement leaders who have successfully implemented measureable changes to effectively address youth alcohol access issues. These extraordinary efforts will be acknowledged during various award ceremonies throughout the conference, especially during the 10th Anniversary Acknowledgement Luncheon held on Thursday, August 21.

Approximately 2,000 participants are expected to attend, including State EUDL coordinators, enforcement officers, executives, government officials, military officials, judges, court personnel, and staff of community-based organizations. In addition to information sessions led by national experts and case studies of effective strategies, the conference offers networking opportunities with professionals from across the country in various disciplines. An interactive youth track also is planned to hone youth leadership skills to engage in community action.

OJJDP has scheduled both the EUDL conference and the State Relations Advisory Division (SRAD) annual conference in Nashville back-to-back during the same week, allowing for networking and information sharing between the attendees of both conferences. The EUDL preconference event will consist of the EUDL State Coordinators meeting on August 20, which also will be attended by juvenile justice specialists who will be in Nashville attending the SRAD annual conference held earlier the same week. This meeting will be an ideal opportunity for EUDL practitioners and juvenile justice specialists to meet and network since many EUDL designated State agencies differ from the designated State agencies that receive Title II, Title V, and Juvenile Accountability Block Grant funding streams. Given that all funding streams can support underage drinking prevention or intervention efforts, this meeting will provide an excellent opportunity for States to improve communication and reduce duplicated efforts in this area. Best practices and success stories on integrated efforts also will be shared.

(For more information on the SRAD annual conference see the story "OJJDP Hosts Annual SRAD National Conference,” also in this issue.)

Sessions

Conference workshops will address a variety of topics, including the negative health effects of alcohol, strategies to facilitate coalition building, implementation and enforcement of effective policies, promoting youth advocacy, and student involvement in reducing underage drinking. A number of invitation-only preconference workshops and meetings will be held August 19 and 20. These sessions will include a meeting of the Leadership Institute, an OJJDP/EUDL State Coordinators Meeting With State Relations, a National Trainers Meeting, a State Coordinators Special Activity With Youth, and a Military Discretion Meeting.

To register for the EUDL conference, please visit the conference Web site.

The EUDL Program

Established by OJJDP in 1998, EUDL is the only Federal initiative directed exclusively toward preventing underage drinking. The program is a $25 million initiative consisting of block grants to each State and the District of Columbia and discretionary grants to selected States to fund the best and most promising activities and research at the local level while seeking cutting-edge strategies to expand knowledge and positive outcomes. In FY 2008, OJJDP has allocated $350,000 in block grants to each State and will fund EUDL discretionary programs in three States for up to $900,000 for a 3-year period. Block grants support statewide task forces of State and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies to target establishments suspected of a pattern of violations of State laws governing the sale and consumption of alcohol by minors. The grants also support public advertising programs to educate establishments about statutory prohibitions and sanctions. Innovative programs to prevent and combat underage drinking are encouraged.

Discretionary grants test best-practice programming executed in innovative ways in selected communities to learn from the experience through evaluation. The EUDL discretionary program has supported a community trials evaluation with results to be released in 2008 or 2009. In addition, programs are currently underway that focus on selected rural locations. In FY 2006, OJJDP partnered its EUDL discretionary program with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to reduce the availability and consumption of alcohol by USAF personnel who are under 21 and change the underage drinking environment of selected communities. The initiative, which provides funds to communities to implement research-based strategies and best practices, is being demonstrated in four States, their selected communities, and five USAF installations. For more information on the EUDL program, please visit the OJJDP Web site.