The Union county Community Prevention Alliance Workgroup (UC CPAW) has existed in some form since 2016.  The coalition was initially developed in collaboration with Union County Family Connection, part of a statewide network of community collaboratives.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded a five-year Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant to the UC CPAW in 2021.  

The goals of the DFC Support Program are to: 1) Establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, public and private non-profit agencies, as well as federal, state, local, and tribal governments to support the efforts of community coalitions working to prevent and reduce substance abuse among youth; and to 2) Reduce substance abuse among youth and, over time, reduce substance abuse among adults by addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse.