Communities In Schools of Pennsylvania (CISPA), an affiliate of the nation's largest dropout-prevention organization, will utilize funds granted by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to deliver more than $600,000 in grants across Pennsylvania for use in alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention projects. Each of Pennsylvania’s public school districts will receive $1,000 and 53 community coalitions will receive $2,000.

The grants are being made as part of the “My Voice PA” campaign, which promotes the theme “My Life. My Choice.” It presents teens with the idea that they are in control of the path their lives will take and that a drug free path will lead them to a successful future. For more information about the campaign, visitwww.myvoicepa.org.

“Right now, Pennsylvania schools lose 57 students each day to dropping out,” said CISPA President and State Director Nathan Mains.  “Drugs and alcohol play a large role in our dropout crisis. Empowering students to take control of their own lives will go a long way in keeping them on the path to graduate.”

Pennsylvania’s dropout problem can be directly linked to crime, health problems, unemployment and a loss in tax revenue – issues that touch all of us, and cost Pennsylvanians billions every year.  The state prison system accounts for one of the state’s largest expenditures each year. About 82 percent of inmates do not have a high school diploma.  CISPA is making a connection between staying drug and alcohol free and staying on track to graduation.  

Other numbers are alarming as well.  The mortality rate for adults without a high school education is 2.5 times higher than those who graduate, and dropouts are four times more likely to be unemployed than high school graduates.  In addition, the annual losses in income taxes for America’s dropouts exceed $50 billion – dollars that are desperately needed as our state and federal governments continue to deal with an uncertain economic future.