Amistades Substance Abuse Coalition--Through federal funding, Amistades manages the Amistades Substance Abuse Coalition, a community-driven group that provides substance abuse prevention to over 10,000 individuals in the Flowing Wells area in the programs described below. The Flowing Wells community consists of 13.1 squares miles in the City of Tucson Empowerment and Enterprise Zones as classified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Coalition’s goals include the reduction of alcohol and drugs among youth and enhancement of existing collaborative efforts in the community. The Coalition addresses the problem of underage drinking, marijuana and tobacco use, and is also concerned about inhalant abuse and prescription drug use among Latinos. A vision to create healthy, productive, safe, and drug-free communities is its driving force. The Coalition’s primary funding source is the United States Department of Health and Human Services - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) / Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in partnership with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Drug Free Communities Support Program (DFCSP) and Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP).
STRATEGIC PREVENTION FRAMEWORK
STOP Underage Drinking Project--The Amistades Substance Abuse Coalition receives funding from SAMHSA to enhance existing prevention efforts in Flowing Wells. Enhanced environmental prevention strategies to reduce underage drinking include: youth driven media campaigns; social host enforcement awareness and education campaigns; multi-cultural (Latino, Native American, & African American) alcohol diversion classes; monitoring of storefront negative alcohol advertising, and providing multi-cultural underage drinking workshops (Latinos, Native Americans, & African Americans) to social services providers. Prevention programs are provided in partnership with the Holistic Wellness Counseling & Consultant Services at the Wildcat Charter School, Ha:san Leadership and Preparatory School, and the within the Pascua Yaqui high schools and on the Tohono O’odham reservation in the San Xavier District.
Attacking Teenage Alcoholism through Media Arts Program-Attacking Teenage Alcoholism through Media Arts Program is a media arts program designed for Flowing Wells High School to strengthen existing prevention programs and concepts in the Flowing Wells Prevention Framework. Students are involved in developing public service announcements (PSA’s) about alcoholism, drunk driving, and/or teen alcohol use during Red Ribbon Week in October. The program contains curriculum and related material outlined in Project Towards No Drug Abuse (Project TND), funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a drug abuse intervention and prevention program for high school age youth and Project SUCCESS (Schools Using Coordinated Community Efforts to Strengthen Students), designed to prevent and reduce substance use among students 12 to 18 years of age. Amistades works within the media arts classrooms to introduce alcohol abuse prevention PSA’s and provide training and education about the dangers of alcohol to students. Media arts classes will are broken into teams and tasked with writing, producing, filming, editing, and audio-editing, to create a two minute PSA and a 30-second PSA. The teams present their PSA’s at an Amistades Substance Abuse Coalition meeting for judging. The winning PSA’s air on COX 7, Channel 12, and Access Tucson and students are incentivized with gift cards and a modest study scholarship or honorarium.
Alcohol/Drugs Diversion for Long Term Suspension Program--Alcohol/Drugs Diversion for Long Term Suspension Program is a diversion program for high school students in the Flowing Wells Unified School District attending Flowing Wells High School facing long term suspensions. This program is offered to students with the option to have a possible long term suspension held in abeyance after being caught on campus with drugs or alcohol. This abeyance is granted to the student by passing two drug tests and completing prevention education by Amistades. The prevention education course is a four hour block of instruction which includes information about felonies and misdemeanors, a discussion about marijuana and the half truths and “myths” that teens who believe it to be harmless often share with each other. Alcohol/Drugs Diversion for Long Term Suspension Program encourages students to avoid bringing drugs and alcohol to school and advising them not to be under the influence at school or for that matter, ever. Parent involvement is key during and most importantly, at the end of the program when discussion with each student and a parent is held regarding the possible need for treatment.
Coyote Wisdom Underage Drinking Prevention Campaign (Upcoming Program)--This public awareness campaign is aimed at reaching 10,000 Latino and Native American youth and parents using a cultural and age-appropriate approach as well as media-based prevention efforts to reduce underage drinking. The campaign is grounded on the use of social media platforms such as: Facebook; Twitter; Jumo; My Space; You Tube; Flickr; Ning; Wordpress Blogs, and Del.icio.us to reach and engage Latino and Native American youth population and their parents. Other successful underage drinking campaigns that exist are used as models. Draw the Line/¡hasta aqui! (www.drawyourline.com), created by Governor Janet Napolitano and the Arizona Underage Drinking Prevention Committee, is used as a state-wide bilingual public awareness model campaign calling on parents and adults to draw the line against underage drinking. Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)’s (http://www.cadca.org) best practice mass media prevention strategy is also used as a guide. The Coyote Wisdom Underage Drinking Prevention Campaign utilizes the cultural strengths of both Tohono O’odham and Latino people in a concerted effort to heal future generations using new and standard media based prevention methods. It creates positive changes in the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of high risk Tohono O’odham and Latino youth between the ages of 10-18 living in the City of Tucson in Pima County. Within the Native American population, there is a specific focus on the Tohono O’odham youth in the San Xavier District. The campaign promotes awareness, fosters education, and facilitates involvement of parents.
Proyecto REGALOS--REGALOS increases parent involvement to prevent youth substance abuse by increasing knowledge, and understanding of the serious risks and public health problems caused by alcohol abuse in the Flowing Wells community. The goal is to preserve the family foundation to raise healthy children by promoting positive youth development. A culturally appropriate, strengthening multi-ethnic family program, REGALOS is a collaborative project with Arizona Youth Partnership and the Arizona Parents Commission. Proyecto REGALOS (Raising Every Generation to Attain Lasting Opportunities for Success) is implemented in the following three communities in Pima County: Flowing Wells, Marana, and Sahuarita. Amistades Inc. manages the project for the Flowing Wells community. The project targets parents of youth ages 3-18 years of age. Diversity is a core value of REGALOS. The project uses the Strengthening Multi-Ethnic Families and Communities curriculum. This evidenced-based project utilizes a cultural framework to assist parents in raising children to lead violence free, healthy lifestyles. REGALOS consists of three basic strategies: parent education; parent/youth pledges, and parent support groups. Amistades is enhancing the current REGALOS youth component to serve Latino youth ages 5-13. The enhancement will provide culturally competent prevention services through activities that build: cultural pride; life skills; leadership development; healthy lifestyles, and social skill development. Activities will include: obesity prevention classes; the new food pyramid classes; and the development/implementation of a local youth council. The enhanced activities will be grounded in ancient indigenous philosophy and education. Youth in Pima County communities report high rates of domestic violence and parent attitudes favorable to drug use and crime in a community, current community services offer limited access to after school and youth programs. With diminishing funding and governmental support, the few programs being offered to youth are reducing the number of programs provided and severely curtailing service hours. Amistades has identified over 50 alcohol retailers in the target area, with the majority of retails targeting their marketing efforts toward the Latino youth population. The combination of reduced youth services and the easy availability of alcohol increase the risk of youth alcohol use and other deviant behavior. The implementation of the youth enhancement component will strengthen the social, economic, and educational infrastructure of families in the community by teaching them a new way of life. The project collaborates with the existing substance abuse coalitions in the area to recruit and retain participants. These coalitions include the Amistades Substance Abuse Coalition (Flowing Wells) and the Northwest Regional Coalition (Marana). Amistades has successfully graduated seven parent classes in the last 12 months.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PROYECTO REGALOS BROCHURE
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SOCIAL HOST BOOKLET
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PARENT FEEDBACK FORM
Amistades Substance Abuse Coalition
Amistades Regalos Parenting Program
Community Partners
