SALISBURY – Lauren Alexander-Persse has been named project director for Youth Substance Use Prevention Rowan. YSUP is a coalition focused on preventing substance misuse among adolescents.

The announcement was made by Karen South Jones, executive director of Rowan County Youth Services Bureau, which is the sponsor and fiscal agent of YSUP Rowan.

Alexander-Persse is a native of Rowan County. She graduated from Salisbury High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked in the field of education, including positions in the state Department of Public Instruction’s Migrant Education Program and as a middle school social studies teacher.

She and her wife, Wendy, live in Salisbury.

The mission of YSUP Rowan is to inform and engage the community to create conditions that lead to the prevention and reduction of substance use by young people. The coalition uses the strategic prevention framework to identify root causes of substance misuse, then applies evidence-based prevention science to eliminate or mitigate those causes.

YSUP Rowan coalition members represent a spectrum of people and organizations who are affected by substance misuse, including schools, law enforcement, mental and physical health providers, youth organizations, the faith community, young people, parents, people in recovery, social services, public health, and the business community.

For more information, contact Alexander-Persse at 704-633-5636.