Westbrook Communities that Care, a coalition focused on positive youth development in the city, announced this week that it has acquired a major grant that will fund the group for the next five years.

The Westbrook School Department will be the fiscal agent for the $625,000 grant.

In an email sent to coalition and community members last week, Claire Schroeder, program manager, said the grant will “provide stable funding” for the next five years. She said the money allows the group to fill one, full-time position, as well as one, part-time position.

“I am pleased to announce that today we were awarded the full Drug Free Communities grant,” Schroeder said. “This is an amazing accomplishment.”

“This is another example of the positives that have been put in place since the Alfano report,” Superintendent of Schools Marc Gousse said Monday, referring to moves the department has made since last year, when a string of controversies stemming from instances of underage drinking led to an independent report that outlined measures to help the district.

Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton congratulated all “who participated in the development of the grant” and called the announcement “very good news for Westbrook.”

Operating since 2011, Westbrook Communities that Care was formed from the Portland-based Opportunity Alliance’s Communities Promoting Health Coalition.

In the spring of 2013, the Communities Promoting Health Coalition was awarded a mentoring grant through Drug-Free Communities to mentor the Westbrook Communities that Care coalition from the fall of 2013 to the fall of 2015.

The Drug-Free Communities grant is a national program that provides funds to 680 communities. Westbrook is one of 197 new grantees this year, and is one of four new grantees in Maine.

An expanded story will appear in this week’s issue of the American Journal, Thursday, Sept. 25.