URGENT ALERT To Parents

CASASTART (Striving Together to Achieve Rewarding Tomorrows)

Published on October 11, 2005 By Sid_Gibson In Parenting

One of my ultimate goals in creating this blogsite was to find a resource that would help create a comprehensive educational program to address the risks facing our children with regard to substance abuse and other issues. The following demonstrates that help may be here for the taking. I will research this further, but in the meantime I offer the following:

Just in from CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) via email:

"This month, the journal Substance Use & Misuse published the article CASASTART: A Community-Based, School-Centered Intervention for High-Risk Youth by Lawrence F. Murray and Steven Belenko. The authors state that during the past decade there are increasing numbers of drug- and alcohol-related delinquency cases in the juvenile justice system. They posit that one of CASA’s demonstration programs, CASASTART, is a promising model of evidence-based, community-, and school-centered program for these and other high-risk youth."

CASASTART (Striving Together to Achieve Rewarding Tomorrows) is a community-based, school-centered program designed to keep high-risk preadolescents (8 to 13 years old) free of drug and crime involvement. The central notion underlying the program is that while rates of experimentation with drugs and alcohol are similar for preadolescents from all backgrounds, those who lack effective human and social support are at higher risk of continuing and intensifying substance abuse.

Using an intensive and coordinated marriage of preventive services and community-based law enforcement, CASASTART addresses the individual needs of participants as well as the broader problems of their families and communities. It operates on three levels to:

* Build resiliency in the child

* Strengthen families

* Make neighborhoods safer for children and their families

The program brings together key stakeholders in a community or neighborhood (schools, law enforcement, social services, and health agencies) under one umbrella and provides case managers to work daily with high-risk children.

Recognition:

Model Program: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (SAMSHA)

Exemplary Program: Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, U.S. Department of Education

Model Program: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice

Promising Program: U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence

CASASTART was developed by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. CASA is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as "CASA") or any of its member organizations, or any other organization with the name of "CASA."

PARENTS: GET MORE INFO--ACT NOW

CASASTART
Program Detail: PDF
Fact Sheet: Web Format PDF

Comments

No one has commented on this article. Be the first!

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!