The Hispanic Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program (UMADAOP) will expand its mission with an emphasis on prevention of problem gambling. The organization will educate 100 Hispanic students covering middle and high school to increase awareness about gambling disorders.
The hope is that the students will transmit what they learned with peers and families in conversations and through social media and other publicity, according to OH Bets.
A bilingual course relies on both the Risky Business EBP Program, an award-winning model to educate youth developed at Wright State University, and the Change the Game Ohio curriculum created by the Ohio for Responsible Gambling collaborative.
According to the application, Hispanic youth are at higher risk for gambling problems than Caucasians. One survey in Ohio determined 15 percent of Hispanic males 18 to 24 were at risk,
The NCPG grants are given twice a year, with a total of $193,000 in funding for five different groups in the latest round.
“The goal of these grants is to fill in gaps for areas that currently have no such services, as well as bolster promising efforts in existing programs,” the council’s announcement stated.
Other recipients of funding—supported by contributions to the NCPG from the NFL Foundation and FanDuel—include the Maryland chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, Nicasa Behavioral Health Services, and Student Assistance Services of Tarrytown, New York.
