Monitor & Evaluate
Efforts to curb excessive alcohol use (underage, binge, heavy drinking and drinking by those who are pregnant), need to be monitored and evaluated on an ongoing basis. While no one policy in and of itself will be enough to change drinking patterns for any particular population, it is important to see how those efforts are working.
Alcohol use permeates much of our social life and no one measure captures all that is happening in a community. Important first steps include understanding where alcohol is served and sold, ensuring sellers are only selling to those of age and to those who are not already intoxicated, and making sure various ordinances are being enforced. As measurements identify potential problems and gaps in policy, a variety of actions can be taken to address these.
Important First Steps
The first step to evidence-based policy making is collecting data in order to understand what is happening at a population level. There are several effective ways communities can do this, such as through studying alcohol outlet density, conducting Place of Last Drink reviews, and helping law enforcement to conduct semi-annual Minimum Legal Drinking Age compliance checks. In addition, the DHS alcohol dashboard has easily accessible data on alcohol use and harms. Resources for local advocates to use in monitoring what is happening in their communities are provided here as well as excellent information from the CDC, SAMSHA and NIAAA and America’s Health Rankings.
If you have questions or need technical assistance or training in these areas, please contact the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project. Check back here periodically as we plan to post new and helpful tools for you and your community as they become available.
Alcohol Outlet Density Summary
Measuring how closely alcohol retail businesses are located within a community and/or mapping the locations of alcohol retailers provides useful data to drive informed decision-making and to reduce alcohol use by reducing its availability, as explained in this summary by the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project.
Other Resources
Conducting a Scan of Alcohol Signage at Class A Retailers
Cataloging the alcohol advertising at off-premises outlets (convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, liquor stores) enables a group to identify locations that fail to comply with local sign codes and then seek enforcement.
This tool, developed by the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project, walks you through the steps of conducting a scan of alcohol signage.
Summer Festivals and Outdoor Events
Wisconsin loves its outdoor summer festivals. Unfortunately, underage and binge drinking are frequent occurrences at summer festivals and outdoor events operating under temporary “Class B” or Class “B” licenses in Wisconsin. To determine which evidence-based policies and practices are being used by festivals, outdoor events, and other temporary licensees in your community, use the following Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project resources:
Festival Assessment Form
Use this form to gather information on how effective organizations are at preventing underage drinking and sales to obviously intoxicated people—then use the information to educate the organizations and make festivals safer.
Instructions on Scoring Festival Assessments
Assessing festivals is a task perfect for hands-on volunteers who want to get outside. Here are instructions on how to score the Festival Assessment Form.
Municipalities may attach conditions to temporary licenses to reduce underage and binge drinking. The license conditions can ensure that the organization sponsoring each event implements specific strategies or else risks losing its license to sell alcohol beverages the following year. When alcohol beverage sales are essential to the operation and success of a festival, appending license conditions allows the festival to proceed while implementing policies that support community health and safety.
Even if a municipality has not attached license conditions to the temporary licenses, a community can still keep an eye on what is happening at its summer festivals and outdoor events. In the absence of clearly stated license conditions, some communities have found that policies that reduce underage drinking are more widely adopted voluntarily, but policies that reduce binge drinking are less frequently implemented. Gathering information can be useful to determine which organizations are being most effective at preventing underage drinking and sales to obviously intoxicated people.
Four policies and practices that prevent and reduce underage drinking
- ID checks at the entrance to serving area
- Wrist bands to identify attendees ages 21 or older
- Keeping people under age 21 out of the area where alcohol is sold or consumed, for example by using a secure perimeter (fence) around the serving area
- Distinguishable cups that allow for easy identification of alcohol vs alcohol-free beverages
Eight policies and practices that prevent and reduce binge drinking
- Limiting the number of beverages that can be purchased at a time
- Limit size of beverages served to single servings 12 oz or smaller of beer and other fermented malt beverages (e.g., hard seltzers & “wine” coolers), and 5 oz or smaller of wine
- No discount alcohol pricing
- No sales to obviously intoxicated individuals
- Prohibiting servers from drinking
- Food and alcohol-free beverages available where alcohol is sold
- Limit locations where signs may be displayed
- Ending alcohol sales one hour before closing
Place of Last Drink (POLD)
Place of Last Drink refers to the last place that a person drank an alcohol beverage before being issued a citation by a law enforcement officer for an alcohol-related incident. Compiling POLD information is an effective, low-cost method to identify local licensees that demonstrate a pattern of over-serving alcohol to its customers. Identifying a pattern of over-serving enables a municipality to focus community and law enforcement resources on specific licensees without placing additional burden on compliant businesses.