NEDHSA’s Underage Drinking Prevention Team helps restaurants, bars serve responsibly

“This win, win relationship will not only help us improve regional population health, but it will also help us expand responsible economic development and growth. We need both.”

MONROE, La. (PRWEB)
February 07, 2023

Northeast Delta Human Services Authority (NEDHSA) is hosting a Responsible Beverage Safety Training to promote underage drinking prevention, an initiative from the agency’s Department of Prevention and Wellness. The training is set for today, Tuesday, February 7, at 9:30 a.m. at Tower Place, located at N. 19th Street in Monroe.

This responsible beverage server training class can help lower alcohol-related injuries and fatalities and lower the number of underage patrons served by vendors. NEDHSA will professionally educate attendees on how to serve alcohol safely, understand the Louisiana alcohol laws, and avoid serving underage patrons.

NEDHSA Executive Director Dr. Monteic A. Sizer said, “The agency is partnering with business owners to create a unified front around responsible drinking and social activities.”

“We are allowing bar owners to get on the right side of this issue,” Dr. Sizer said. “This win, win relationship will not only help us improve regional population health, but it will also help us expand responsible economic development and growth. We need both.”

This work continues NEDHSA’s commitment to the Opportunity Zone Coalition, which addresses high-risk behaviors in communities and strives to reduce underage drinking in both Ouachita and Franklin parishes. Its purpose is to build community coalitions and utilize data to identify needs and interventions through information dissemination and providing alternative activities for the youth. The Opportunity Zone began from citizen needs expressed during our faith-based mental health summits and data from the agency’s Caring Communities Youth Surveys.

Dr. Sizer said, “Community challenges would not be mitigated by wishful thinking, rhetoric, or without the people experiencing the problems being involved.”

“Community problems are symptomatic of individual and larger societal challenges. We must address community challenges holistically,” Dr. Sizer said. “People in communities need access to treatment, prevention services, jobs, improved nutritional options, affordable housing, better educational opportunities, healthy relationships, and houses of faith.”

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