The University has been selected to receive one of 12 federal grants totaling $15.5 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to combat underage drinking and drug abuse by promoting innovative screening, brief interventions and referral to treatment of those students with a high risk of substance abuse disorders.

UD’s Center for Counseling and Student Development will receive more than $1.2 million over three years through the federal grant program, which was announced in late July.

The new SAMHSA grant follows closely on the heels of the completion of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, which provided UD about $1.1 million over 10 years to focus attention on public policy changes and for a community and campus awareness-building campaign aimed at curbing high-risk alcohol abuse.

Substance abuse is a well-documented problem on university campuses across the country, and the grant from SAMHSA, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will assist participating institutions with their efforts to reduce the health and social consequences of that abuse. Universities are expected to screen and refer students in need to appropriate treatment, utilizing either campus or community resources.

“A person’s life is shaped in late adolescence and early adulthood, and drug and alcohol abuse can seriously derail an individual’s emotional and social growth,” SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie said in announcing the grants.

“College and university health service centers provide an ideal setting to identify and intervene early with students who are abusing drugs or alcohol,” he said, adding, “Brief and early intervention can help keep students on track toward healthy and productive lives.”

“The University of Delaware has been a national leader in addressing the problem of high-risk, or binge, drinking among young people as an important public health issue,” UD President David P. Roselle says. “It is clear that substance abuse by students continues to be one of the most difficult problems confronting our campuses, and we are pleased that SAMHSA has recognized the gravity of the situation and has provided funding to help colleges and universities better deal with the issue.

“We’re also pleased that UD can continue in its national leadership role in attempting to come to grips with the problem.”

John Bishop, UD associate vice president for counseling and student development and professor of individual and family studies, says the SAMHSA grant is geared toward intervention and treatment. Bishop was project director of the RWJF-sponsored initiative at UD.

“One result of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation project was confirmation through regular evaluations that many UD students experience personal disruptions in their lives and academic careers as a result of the way they or others choose to use alcohol and illegal drugs,” Bishop says.

“The new SAMHSA grant will expand UD’s capacity to educate students about the risks associated with substance abuse and to provide an expanded array of treatment options for those so identified.”

Nancy J. Nutt, director of the Wellspring Student Wellness Program and principal investigator for the grant, says UD has identified three specific goals for the funding:

• To enhance or establish programs to increase the receptivity of students to information about alcohol and drug risks;
  
  
• To provide brief interventions and to expand treatment options on campus through timely and effective assessments; and
  
  
• To coordinate with nearby off-campus treatment facilities to provide more intensive treatment for students found in need of such assistance.

Steve Martin, senior scientist with the University’s Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies, says the fact that officials sought the grant shows “that the University of Delaware administration is well- aware of the problems associated with the use of alcohol and illegal drugs and is putting resources in place to help students find good solutions.”

Also receiving SAMHSA grants are the universities of Arizona, California at Los Angeles, Hartford, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Texas at El Paso and Tennessee; Bristol Community College in Massachusetts; Northeastern and New Mexico Highlands universities; and the State University of New York at Albany.

UD is the only institution that participated in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program to receive a SAMHSA grant.  

—Neil Thomas, AS ’76