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Substance
Abuse
Overview
Substance abuse continues to be a national problem.
According to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse:
- An estimated 14.0 million Americans were current
illicit drug users.
- Almost half of Americans ages 12 and older reported
being current drinkers of alcohol. This translates
to an estimated 104 million people.
- An estimated 65.5 million Americans reported current
use of a tobacco product.
- Approximately 1.5 million persons used pain relivers
non-medically for the first time in 1999.
RC/EZ/ECs can address the issue of substance abuse
in their communities through prevention and intervention
strategies, increased access to treatment, and advocating
for legislative action. RC/EZ/ECs can also take advantage
of the various tools and information available from
SAMHSA, NIMH,
and NACDI.
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Stories
and Models from the field
A New Life Program Combines Drug Treatment with
Family Preservation and Job Training
Philadelphia, PA EZ (Round I)
In Philadelphia in 1991, drug-addicted mothers with
children faced a major obstacle when seeking treatment:
outpatient programs would not let women keep their children
during treatment. This placed a huge burden on the mothers
by forcing them to choose between treatment and their
families. A New Life, a program housed in the R.W. Brown
Community Center in the North Central Philadelphia EC
(NCEZ), was designed to address this issue.
A New Life's strategy combines drug treatment and rehabilitation
with family preservation, housing, and vocational services
to help families conquer addiction and move toward self-sufficiency.
The women undergo comprehensive outpatient drug treatment
throughout the program. In the first phase, families
are placed in mentor homes within the community for
3 to 6 months while the mother undergoes intensive outpatient
treatment. In the next phase, families move into one
of three transitional housing units, sharing a home
with two other families. During this stage, participants
take part in life-skills, vocational and educational
training offered through the Welfare to Work Initiative.
New Life staff members also make home visits. Finally,
the women pursue continuing education or employment
opportunities while continuing to receive support ranging
from daycare to ongoing drug treatment.
Although it began as a federally funded drug treatment
program, A New Life is now locally funded by the Pennsylvania
Department of Human Services, the Office of Emergency
Shelter and Services and the Coordinating Office of
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs. The NCEZ has joined
forces with A New Life by providing funding for a street
outreach campaign and the purchase and maintenance of
a van to help women get to the treatment center.
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Tools
The National
Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
provides publications and planning tools for communities
and practitioners related to alcohol and other addictive
substances. Tools on this web site include:
A
Model plan for a comprehensive drug-free workplace
program
2000
Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Programs
Publications and Technical Assistance Bulletins targeted
towards community coalitions. To locate these resources,
scroll down to the topic area titled "Information
Related To" and click on "Community Coalitions." This
section also lists target populations such as college
students, the elderly, Native Americans and Hispanics,
allowing you to find technical assistance related
to your specific population.
The
SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's Model
Program
Features highly successful model programs that can be
replicated at the community level-adopted in their entirety
or used to guide improvements or expanded services in
an existing substance abuse prevention program. The
site provides tools that allow you to implement and
evaluate your community's model substance abuse prevention
program., request training and technical assistance
from program developers, link to numerous prevention
and funding resources and check out and order many free
publications on all model programs and the latest in
science-based substance abuse prevention. To locate
this resource, click on the above link, then go to CSAP
Model Programs under the heading of "Substance Abuse
Prevention Programs."
The Decision
Support System
"The PreventionDSS follows CSAP's Logic Model to help
you make informed decisions while planning, implementing,
and evaluating substance abuse prevention programs for
communities and States." Tools offered cover:
Assessing
your needs
Developing
capacity
Selecting
programs and practices
Implementing
programs
Evaluating
programs
Writing
reports
Getting
training and support
 | These technical assistance resources for RC/EZ/ECs were
funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through a cooperative
agreement administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA), and prepared by the Public Health Foundation. Duplication
and adaptation, with credit, are encouraged. |  |
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Tips
for RC/EZ/ECs
- Compile a list of affordable screening services
for businesses.
- Encourage implementation of Employee Assistance
Programs in RC/EZ/EC businesses.
- Identify facilities that can host self-help substance
abuse programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics
Anonymous and encourage employers to give employees
the flexibility to attend.
- Develop an awards program for smoke-free businesses.
- Offer businesses assistance in implementing drug
free workplaces.
- Encourage businesses to take advantage of the Work
Opportunity Tax Credit to hire RC/EZ/EC youth, decreasing
their chances of initiating substance use.
- Encourage employers to recruit and hire individuals
from treatment programs.
- Lobby for zoning laws that limit the number of
establishments serving alcohol.
- Work to ban advertisement of tobacco and alcohol
products in the RC/EZ/EC.
- RC/EZ/ECs can use the Commercial Revitalization
Deduction or the Enterprise Zone Facility Bonds to
attract construction of out-patient treatment facilities.
- Use resources from WELCOA,
CSAP
, CSAT
, and NIDA
to initiate prevention programs.
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Links
National Institute
of Mental Health
The agency has several useful resources, including:
Funding
Opportunities including training and career
development programs that EZ/ECs might use to strengthen
their programs.
Background
Information including brochures and information
sheets, reports, press releases, fact sheets, and
other educational materials.
Computer
Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP)
is a "biomedical database system containing information
on research projects and programs supported by the
Department of Health and Human Services."
"Mental
Health: The Cornerstone of Health" contains
"mental health information related to U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS)research, programs,
policies, and media campaigns and highlights the latest
research findings and policy efforts."
The
Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking
What one state is doing to tackle underage drinking.
This site also has a list of web resources http://www.ctclearinghouse.org/oresurce.htm
with information on drug abuse, education, health, parenting,
self-growth and other topics of interest.
Mental
Health and Substance Abuse in Rural Areas: Information
Resources
Sponsored by the Rural Information Center Health Service,
this collaborative project between the US Department
of Health and Human Services and the US Department of
Agriculture offers links to full text publications,
federal agencies and funding opportunities.
The
Evaluation Center@HSRI
"The mission of the Evaluation Center@HSRI is to provide
evaluation technical assistance to state and non-profit
public and private entities including but not limited
to consumers, families and provider groups. This technical
assistance is designed to improve the planning, development,
and operation of adult mental health services carried
out as part of the Community Mental Health Services
Block Grant and other publicly funded programs." The
Center is organized into five programs: Consultation
Program; Multicultural Issues in Evaluation Program;
Topical Evaluations Networks Program; Toolkits and Materials
Program; Conferences and Training Program.
Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration
The agency's website features several areas that are
particularly useful to RC/EZ/ECs planning to prevent
and combat substance abuse:
Grant
Opportunities from the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration can be used by
RC/EZ/ECs to find funding opportunities for potential
programs.
Prevline: SAMHSA's
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
provides information by topic
area, allows access to various publications series,
sponsors webcasts on substance-abuse related topics
and posts an
excellent site with resources to help integrate
cultural competence into prevention efforts.
Join Together,
a project of the Boston University School of Public
Health, is a national resource for communities working
to reduce substance abuse and gun violence. The substance
abuse section of this site includes news updates, funding
resources and online
resources.
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