The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has awarded $74 million in Drug Free Communities (DFC) grants to 736 recipients nationally, including 90 new community anti-drug coalitions selected from a pool of 321 applicants.

The DFC grants are aimed primarily at youth drug prevention. Another 19 new grants and 15 continuation grants were awarded through the DFC Support Mentoring Program, totaling $1.32 million; these grants will allow existing grantees to help new coalitions.

Of the DFC grants, $8.9 million went to new coalitions and $62.9 million were continuation grants.

The DFC program provides grants of up to $500,000 over five years to community organizations that facilitate citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. Coalitions are comprised of community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and the media.