Agency: Alcoholic Beverage Control

Line Item: Parents Empowered

Function

Parents Empowered "is a media and education campaign funded by the Utah Legislature and designed to prevent and reduce underage drinking in Utah by providing parents and guardians with information about the harmful effects of alcohol on the developing teen brain, along with proven skills for preventing underage alcohol use." Click on the link http://www.parentsempowered.org/ to go to the website.

Over the past few years, studies by the National Institutes of Health and the federal department of Health and Human Services, as well as research by independent organizations, have shown the negative effect of alcohol on the developing teen brain. Results from these studies instigated coversations in the state of Utah and support from the Legislature for education of parents and teens.

This program is designed to help minimize or eliminate the problem of underage drinking in Utah. Research largely shows that parental disapproval of their children drinking is the number one deterrent against youth consumption of alcohol. Thus, the program is designed and funded to help educate parents to better help their children.

Funding Detail

The Legislature began providing funding for the program in FY 2008 as part of the DABC main line item. In the 2010 General Session, the funding for Parents Empowered, originally the Eliminate Alcohol Sales to Youth Program, was moved into its own line item separate from the main DABC line item. Funding comes from proceeds of the Liquor Control Fund.