NORWICH – Chenango County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Clinic Services is working with the Central Region Prevention Resource Center in Syracuse and taking the first steps in forming a new coalition to tackle the issue of underage drinking in the county.

Presently, the two agencies are gauging awareness of underage drinking in the area. Although it’s only the first step of a long process to combat the issue of underage drinking, the two agencies hope to use local data to form the coalition in the coming months.

“I’m hearing that underage drinking is a huge problem in the community and folks want to know how to get on board and do something about it,” said Susan Meidenbauer, community development specialist for CRPRC. “I’m getting a lot of interest and lot of positive feedback and I have a good feeling about a potential coalition to address the issue.”

Concerns about underage drinking are nothing new to the Chenango Alcohol and Drug Abuse Clinic. According to Program Coordinator Victoria McElligott, the clinic typically receives referrals of underage drinking parties and in some cases, parents and adults view it as widely acceptable. “We really want to get the community involved. It’s not something we can do alone,” she said. “It’s really going to take a community effort to tackle this kind of thing.”