University/Schools Alliance
Executive Meeting
December 10, 2008
at Arcadia University 3:30 PM

Attending: Rosemary Brooks, Sanford Parent
Yvonne Nass, Parent Education Consulting
Howard Isenberg, Open Door
Linda Brasel, Arcadia University PA Program
Cindy Genau, UD Cooperative Extension
Jo-Ann West, Salesianum School Nurse
Erica Melman, OPEI
Harry Baetjer, Tower Hill School
Kristen Blanchard, SODAT Delaware

Staff Attending: Roberta Gealt, Mary Perno

Discussions:
The minutes from the November 12, 2008 meeting were handed out and approved.

Grants:

American Lung Association Grant-USA is now behind in the work for this grant. We have just received the most recent data on youth tobacco use, which will be used to develop materials and handouts.

OPEI Technology and Alternative Activity Grant-all OPEI grants are on hold because of the state funding budget crisis. If USA is awarded this grant, the funds will support Town Hall Meetings on Underage Drinking in the schools. Four of the independent schools—Sanford, Tower Hill, Tatnall and Friends—are already making plans for a speaker and a youth panel.

SPF-SIG-The logic model that was submitted for this grant was provided (see attached). If awarded, this grant will provide over $2 million per year for five years for statewide prevention efforts. Most of the money has to be distributed out into the communities, with planning and management of the community efforts assigned to one community coalition in each of the four statewide planning areas (each of the counties with Wilmington carved out of New Castle County to become the fourth area). USA would be responsible for New Castle County outside of Wilmington. There will be funds available to hire coalition staff to manage this project, and UD graduate students will be hired to help with the ongoing collection of data to evaluate the process and the progress toward the outcomes. USA will need to develop a detailed strategic plan of evidence based policies, practice & programs to address the target behaviors of binge drinking and marijuana use by youth and young adults and prescription drug abuse across the lifespan. It is important to note that USA will develop a prevention plan to meet these targets that is consistent with our own mission and history of working with and through schools. Several issues were discussed relevant to pre-planning:

1. The need to address different youth trajectories

a. Those who experiment with alcohol and drugs, but do not get deeply involved or move off of their normal trajectories of educational attainment and social development.

b. Those who “crash and burn” by getting into drugs early and deeply, who end up dropping out of school or in alternative schools or detention centers, and who may not respond to the same types of reinforcement that youth normally respond to (i.e., parental approval, school progress, et cetera).

c. Those who start out in the first group, but gradually, over their life course, become more and more deeply involved.

2. The need to make connections with the Hispanic populations in New Castle County, since these students appear to be at increased risk for substance use and sexual risk behaviors.

3. The need to involve youth in the planning process and ongoing monitoring of effectiveness.

CDC Conference Grant-Arcadia College is going to apply for a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide a conference for physicians and other medical professionals targeting aspects of Healthy People 2010, and incorporating USA’s educational materials and messages being developed around youth prescription drug abuse and how physicians can help by providing a brief screening, motivational intervention and possible referral to treatment in the context of youth physicals or other routine health care.

Youth Involvement-USA is still looking to increase youth involvement beyond the On Applebee Pond program. It was suggested that we could offer community service hours to students who participate in meetings and also do some canvassing of students in their schools and research, such as providing updates on Delaware laws concerning alcohol and drugs. Kristen will put together a list of names of contact persons in the schools who work with students on community service projects. Rosemary Brooks volunteered her daughter for the spring semester, and will discuss it with her and report back. Howard will contact the Appoquinimink School Superintendent.

Youth/Parent Game Show-Roberta and Mary will be meeting next week to further develop this game so we can do a trial run in a school.

Parent Chats-The next Parent Chat will be on March 4, 2009 at Newark High School. The board for was asked for suggestions as to who should be on the panel. The suggestions were:

Dennis Harris
Nicole Solomon (UD Wellspring) (nsolomon@udel.edu) & maybe a student panel
Holli Harvey (harv@udel.edu)
Cathy Skelley (cathyqs@udel.edu)

Policy Summit-This meeting to review Delaware’s status on substance use issues and develop policy recommendations for the new administration was initially suggested by Senator Biden’s office staffer, Paul Rosen, in a meeting to ensure that USA maintains support from that office despite the fact that Senator Biden is moving on to his new position as Vice President. It will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at Buena Vista from 8:30-2:30. Attendance will need to be carefully monitored as the room will only hold 92 persons. The meeting will be co-sponsored by USA, the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies (CDAS), and the Delaware Drug and Alcohol Tracking Alliance (DDATA), and, possibly the University of Delaware as well. So far, Jack Claypoole, Director of the Drug Free Communities Support Program from the Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is scheduled to come. Also invited is Fran Harding, the Director of the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention . RepresentativeTerry Schooley, who is also Director of Kids Count, will attend and will help extend out invitations to Governor Jack Markell,d Lt. Governor Matt Denn, and the other legislators. We are hoping that Gov. Markell will take an active part in the agenda. The board was asked to suggest who they think should be invited. The suggestions are:

Kim Beniquez, DSAMH
Child Mental Health—whoever would be in the Director’s position
Dana Sawyer, OPEI
Law Enforcement
Drug Court Judges (Carl Goldstein, Chanley Kuhn) (Kristen suggested)
Trauma Registry
Physicians (Terry Horton, CCHS; Dr. Margot Waitz, Adolescent Medicine from A.I. DuPont Hospital)
Media (The News Journal , Delaware Today, Channel 12)
head of State EMT’s
Carolyn Post (Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
MADD-Nancy Wilkerson

Rick Shaw, Youth Rehabilitative Services

Judges Goldstein and Kuhn

Town Hall Meetings-At this time, we do not know if we will have any money to support these, but will go ahead with planning. Roberta passed around a paper on the “World Café” which is an alternative process for running a town hall meeting by breaking down into small groups for a timed period and then moving people to another group so they get to discuss target questions with a variety of people.

Publications -A draft of a book of Delaware substance use indicators being developed by the Delaware Drug and Alcohol Tracking Alliance (DDATA) group was handed out for discussion and comments. It will be used as an informational piece to be distributed to legislators, physicians, and others. It will also become part of the evaluation for the SPF-SIG grant, if it is awarded to Delaware, as it will track trends in target areas of alcohol, marijuana and prescription drug use.

Next USA Meeting: JANUARY 14, 2009 AT UD COOPERATIVE EXT.