DOVER – Today, the Division of Public Health (DPH) announced the launch of a life-skills pilot program at eight middle schools across Delaware to teach students the skills they need to prevent addiction, promote positive decision-making and reduce violence.

DPH is partnering with the Department of Education to bring the Botvin LifeSkills® curriculum to the classroom. The Botvin LifeSkills® Training Program (LST) is a comprehensive, evidence-based program, which provides adolescents and young teens with the con¬fidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.

“Adolescents tend to try substances due to peer pressure, family problems, or low self-esteem, and can easily become addicted,” said DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay. “We wanted to provide teachers with the resources and supports this curriculum offers, to integrate life-skills building and substance use prevention in schools while also helping them to achieve their health education requirements.”

“The impact of substance use has far-reaching effects on our students, including hampering their ability to learn and interfering with their ability to function both in school and at home,” said Department of Education Secretary Susan Bunting. “It is critical that we reach students as early as possible and equip them with good decision-making skills, so that they stay on a path that will lead them to achieve their full potential.”

The pilot program kicked off earlier this week with a train-the-trainer session for 10 teachers who will be using the curriculum. Teachers learned interventions to address the social and psychological factors that lead to experimentation with drugs and other undesirable behaviors. Topics covered included self-image, decision-making, smoking, alcohol, marijuana, advertising, violence and the media, coping with anxiety, coping with anger, communication skills, social skills, assertiveness, and resolving conflicts. The LifeSkills® curriculum must be taught by a certified Botvin trainer.

“Our pre-teens need the confidence, social skills and self-esteem to reject peer pressure and lower their risk for addiction and violence,” said Representative Ruth Briggs King, who welcomed the teachers to the training session held at the University of Delaware Kent County Cooperative Extension office in Dover. “One way to help communities is to initiate prevention, and the school setting is ideal. Research suggests that universal lessons to all children – not only to those at higher risk – strengthen children’s self-esteem, decision-making and communication skills.” DPH paid for the train-the-trainer course and curriculum materials.

DPH selected middle schools in the Capital, Indian River, Red Clay, and Seaford school districts because they are located in areas with high overdose numbers. Through games, discussion, role-playing, and other exercises, students practice refusing drugs, communicating with peers and adults, making choices in problem situations, and confronting peer pressure. Materials range from worksheets and posters, to videos and online content. Schools will decide individually how to best incorporate the 15 class sessions that run 30 to 45 minutes.

“Capital School District is committed to meeting the needs of the whole child. Health education and skill-building so our students can say ‘no’ to heroin, prescription painkillers, and other addictive drugs is critical to this mission,” said Michael Saylor, Supervisor of School Success Planning for Capital School District. “We greatly appreciate this level of partnership and support from the Division of Public Health.”

Training will be implemented in the 2017-2018 school year, beginning with sixth-graders and reaching approximately 2,000 students. Students will complete pre- and post-tests, which Botvin will analyze and summarize for DPH.

Like the nation, Delaware is experiencing an epidemic of addiction to opioids, illegal drugs and alcohol. Overdose deaths in Delaware climbed from 172 in 2012 to 228 in 2015, and then jumped to 308 deaths in 2016. First responders administered the life-saving medication naloxone more than 1,535 in 2016. Parents searching for resources and information regarding how to talk to their children about alcohol and drug use can visit HelpIsHereDE.com.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health, children who use alcohol before age 15 are four times more likely to become addicted to alcohol at some time in their lives, compared to those who have their first drink at age 20 or older. Nearly 70 percent of children who try an illicit drug before age 13 develop a substance use disorder within seven years. Substance use disorders among children are associated with deteriorating relationships, poor school performance, loss of employment, diminished mental health, and sickness and death from motor vehicle crashes, poisonings, violence, and accidents.

Schools offering the Botvin LifeSkills® curriculum are:

• Red Clay School District: Brandywine Springs Middle School
• Capital School District: William Henry and Central middle schools
• Seaford School District: Seaford Middle School
• Indian River School District: Selbyville, Millsboro, and Georgetown middle schools and the Delaware School of the Arts

About Botvin LifeSkills® Training
Botvin LifeSkills® Training (LST) is a highly acclaimed, evidence-based substance abuse and violence prevention program used in schools and communities. LST has been extensively tested and proven to reduce tobacco, alcohol, opioid and illicit drug use by as much as 80 percent. Long-term follow-up studies also show that it produces prevention effects that are durable and long-lasting. Visit www.lifeskillstraining.com for more information.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.

Wilmington – On Monday November 25th, Governor Jack Markell, and Lt. Governor Matt Denn joined officials from the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF/The Children’s Dept.) to announce the names of 12 organizations that have been selected to receive nearly $2.1 million dollars in after school and summer prevention program funds. The announcement was held at the Clarence Fraim Boys and Girls Club in Wilmington. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware is one of the funding recipients.

The initiative to support positive prevention activities for youth was part of Governor Jack Markell’s FY 14 Budget proposal. The General Assembly supported his budget request with $2.2 million as part of DSCYF’s budget for after school programs this session. This is the second round of funding allocated under the budget initiative. In September, a small portion of the budget was distributed to 13 organizations in the form of mini grants.

Applicants for the remainder of the funding were required to submit proposals that included evidence based practices or programs related to preventing youth violence and/or youth suicide. They were also required to include positive opportunities for youth that they might not otherwise have a chance to be exposed to. The grant recipients will be funded through June 2015 subject to continued funding appropriation in the Department’s FY 15 budget

“These places will be providing children with safe and welcoming spaces to do homework, play and enjoy being a kid,” said Governor Markell. “This is about creating opportunities for young people with positive experiences and after school activities that promote their intellectual growth and self-esteem.”

“The programs that were selected are very diverse in their makeup. They cover academics, exposure to nature, music and the arts, bullying, suicide and pregnancy prevention programming, sports and athletics, healthy living, life skills, and self-esteem building,” said Lt. Governor Matt Denn who read off the list of awardees at the event. “I feel confident that the programs being offered are going to have a long term impact on the kids who participate in them.”

The selected funding recipients will enter into contracts with the children’s Department’s Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services. Three of the 12 organizations will have programs running in all three counties, four will operate only in New Castle County, three will operate programs in both Kent and Sussex Counties only, and two will conduct their programs in Kent County alone. The Criminal Justice Council is partnering with the Children’s Department to provide monitoring and quality assurance for the contracts.

Additionally, suicide prevention training will be provided to staff of all of the selected programs so that they can assist in identifying at-risk youth. The prevention program initiative is partly an outgrowth of the initial recommendations by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the 2012 adolescent suicides in Kent County which pointed to a lack of after-school activities for youth in Kent and Sussex Counties.

“We were looking for programs that would provide positive experiences for youth, while also giving them safe and productive opportunities outside of school hours,” said DSYCF Secretary Jennifer Ranji. “The programs that were selected, coupled with the training they’ll receive, help support our mission of prevention or early identification of mental health needs so that we can prevent deeper entry into our system.”

The programs that were selected to receive after school and summer prevention program funding will serve approximately 1,500-1,800 youth. Roughly half of those children are in New Castle County, 25% are in Kent County and 25% are in Sussex County. The funding recipients are:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware – to implement youth leadership clubs, operate a weekday drop in teen program and a Friday night program for academics, athletics and special events.

• Children and Families First – operating in Kent and Sussex counties. Activities will include academic support, life skills like cooking and computer classes and outdoor education.

• The University of Delaware Cooperative Extension – will operate four sites in both Kent and Sussex Counties. They will provide after school tutoring, music and art enrichment and summer programming that focuses on healthy living.

• Providence Service Academy – to operate in the city of Wilmington serving youth ages 12 – 18. They’ll implement a Youth Empowerment program to provide a variety of enrichment activities.

• West End Neighborhood House – also will operate in the City. Their focus will be on youth violence and suicide prevention through the use of several evidence based programs.

• Police Athletic League – will operate in Wilmington and NcCo in four locations. Their focus is on suicide and violence prevention through parent engagement, and after school and summer programs that promote homework assistance and fitness activities.

• Courageous Hearts – this equine assistance program operates in Kent and Sussex and will serve youth ages 12 – 17. They use horses as an equine assisted intervention to help youth overcome anxieties and build self-esteem, as well as provide a mechanism for family engagement.

• DEMCO – this Kent county program will serve children in grades 5 – 8. It provides tutoring and homework support, and sports and fitness enrichment for youth in at risk communities in Downtown Dover.

• The YMCA – will operate in Wilmington, and Kent and Sussex Counties and serve children ages 11 – 18. They will provide memberships to teens and leadership camps.

• Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Delaware – operating in all three counties, this program will serve youth ages 9 – 17 and provide mentoring services for at risk youth, particularly for LGBTQ youth.

• Delaware State University – Summer Youth Academy – this program will expose youth to opportunities for secondary education and mentoring, and promote self-discipline and self-confidence.

• The Mother African Union Church’s Peter Spencer Family Foundation project – operating in the City of Wilmington this program will provide evidence based, academically focused after school programming and gender specific summer programming at two sites.

The Children’s Department provides services to children who have been abused, neglected, are dependent, have mental health or substance problems, have been adjudicated delinquent by the Courts, as well as prevention services targeted toward all youth. For more information, please visit www.kids.delaware.gov.