The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) announced the recipients of the Fall 2023 Agility Grants. In this round, a total of $176,000 in funding will be granted to five organizations in support of programs dedicated to advancing problem gambling prevention.

The NCPG Agility Grants serve as a vital resource for nonprofit organizations engaged in problem gambling prevention. The program was established to address service gaps in areas lacking such provisions and to fortify promising endeavors. More than $1 million in funding support will be granted from 2022 to 2024 to establish and enhance problem gambling prevention strategies.

The Agility Grants program is made possible by a multimillion-dollar, multi-year commitment to NCPG from the NFL via the NFL Foundation as part of the League’s responsible betting public awareness campaign. FanDuel provides additional support for Agility Grants.

“Through Agility Grant funding, we aim to foster dynamic and responsive problem gambling prevention programs, helping to ensure that communities across the country are equipped to address this critical need with flexibility and innovation. Each recipient receiving support this round displayed exemplary commitment to cultural competence, tailoring their approaches with sensitivity to the diverse needs of the populations they serve,” Keith Whyte, Executive Director of NCPG, said.

With an emphasis on prevention innovation, collaboration, amplification, and community impact, Agility Grants recipients foster initiatives that can bring about meaningful change in the problem gambling prevention field.

Fall 2023 Agility Grants funding will support the following Prevention Innovation programs:

The Alabama Council on Compulsive Gambling Prevention (ACCG) program, “It’s More Than Just a Game,” will deliver gambling prevention education to middle school students in Alabama. In a classroom setting, students will be individually presented with a series of gambling and video gaming scenarios designed to assess their prevention knowledge. Following the assessment, each scenario and correct answer will be discussed with the entire class, accompanied by educational insights from the ACCG representative. Upon completing the program, students will receive pamphlets about the risks of gambling and the potential warning signs of developing a gambling problem.

The Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado, in partnership with the Denver Justice High School and the Denver Art Society, will increase awareness and education of problem gambling by delivering the Stacked Deck problem gambling prevention curriculum to high-school students. The project will enhance and reinforce youth engagement in the curriculum by employing art-based activities, workshops and positive reinforcement learning incentives.

Fall 2023 Agility Grants funding will support the following Prevention Amplification programs:

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AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc., in partnership with The New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center, will develop a graphic novel about youth gambling prevention to distribute throughout the New England region as part of their Youth Gambling Prevention Graphic Medicine project. Graphic medicine is an evidence-based modality of providing health education and communication through the medium of graphic novels. The toolkit will include the novel and a facilitator’s guide and will be available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The LCADA Way will launch the Lorain County Problem Gambling Prevention Initiative to raise awareness about the risks associated with gambling and emphasize positive decision-making skills. The development of campaign materials will be led by teens and designed to engage their peers using a series of social media posts, videos, and other digital media.

Maryland Council on Problem Gambling will launch a new program, Culturally Infused Problem Gambling Prevention for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumers. Using Agility Grant funding, they will design culturally specific prevention public awareness materials that utilize problem gambling prevention and education materials and infuse them with the cultural values, beliefs, worldviews and cultural nuances that reflect the lived realities in the Deaf and hard of hearing communities.

Agility Grants are awarded through two funding rounds each year. The Spring 2024 funding round will be open for applications from January 17 to February 28, 2024, with awards announced in early April 2024.