Just For Girls



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Manatee County Children's Services

Youth Substance Abuse Prevention
Program Evaluation

Program Plan Report

Agency: Just for Girls, Manatee County Girls Club, Inc.

Program: R.E.A.P. (Resiliency, Education, and Prevention)

PROFILE

Comprehensive Programming /Program Process

Needs Assessments

Outcomes Design

Prevention Program Theory

DIAGNOSTIC

Needs Assessment/Outcomes Design Match

Outcomes Design/Outcome Data Match

Prevention Program Theory/Evidence-Based Programs Match

Calculations of Cost-Effectiveness

ACTION PLAN

PROFILE

Comprehensive Programming/Program Process

Target Population: All girls in the program, by age level (5-17). Participation in the program is by voluntary enrollment in the Center. (Participation in R.E.A.P. is required.)

Number of Participants Served: 1,069 (last year).

Main Goal(s): Preventing youth substance abuse.

Activities Conducted or Services Provided: Informal classes.

Qualifications/Credentials of Prevention Specialists: Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) license. Comprehensive background check and fingerprinting. Curriculum training. Continuing education. One is a nurse with a bachelor’s degree and 23 years of experience.

General Approach: Role-playing, group discussion, alternative activities, homework help, videotapes, puppets, storytelling, fables/fairy tales. Varies widely. Sometimes cooperative groups and peer discussion.

Schedule of Activities: One hour classes Monday-Thursday. Completing units every 4-6 weeks. Curriculum usually changes from year to year or borrows materials from other curricula to keep material fresh.

Reinforcement: Yearly.

Academic Support: Homework help every day. The Center checks report cards to monitor the girls’ progress.

Substances Addressed: Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, prescription drugs.

Constructive/Healthy Alternatives to Substance Abuse Offered or Promoted: Arts and crafts, cooking, life skills, health and nutrition, performing arts, gym, basketball, volleyball, playground, summer field trips.

Opportunities for Youth Participation in the Community: Service learning projects in the summer. Help with Keep Manatee Beautiful (agency). Some girls visit nursing home (only in summer).

Knowledge about substance abuse addressed? Yes.

Attitudes about substance abuse addressed? Yes.

Substance abuse behavior addressed? Yes.

Refusal skills/peer resistance taught? Yes.

Negative media messages addressed? Yes.

Stress management/anger control/self-control addressed? Yes.

Decision-making skills/critical thinking addressed? Yes.

Self-esteem addressed? Yes.

High and positive life goals promoted? Yes.

Self-efficacy/sense of personal power/personal optimism promoted? Yes.

Other issues addressed? Self-sufficiency, career exploration.

Opportunity for youth leadership with peers or in community? Yes. Teen clubs, service learning projects.

Recognize program participants for achievement? (e.g., awards, celebrations)

Yes. 40 Developmental Assets’ Shining Moments celebrates a girl who does something really good on her own initiative.

Needs Assessments

Needs Assessments Done: Intake forms, pretests and posttests provided by the curriculum for each grade K+, online tools, and informal discussion with girls and their caretakers (incl. bus drivers).

Evidence Target Population is At-Risk: Online tools.

Highest Priority Risk Factors (from Online Tools):

(Children 9+) Alcohol, and to a lesser extent, marijuana. Perception of risk in using these substances.

(Children under 9) Accepting personal responsibility, being a positive role model or leader, defending views under group pressure, and education and learning problems.

Outcomes Design

Outcomes from Online POM Database: Students participating in this class will maintain or improve their prevention-based knowledge in topics including violence, drugs and alcohol over the school year as measured by a post-test at year end.

Targets from Online POM Database: 80%.

Prevention Program Theory

Replicated Program? Yes.

From the website: “Say It Straight (SIS) is a research-based education and training program that results in empowering communication skills and behaviors, increased self-awareness, positive relationships, personal and social responsibility and decreased risky or destructive behaviors, such as alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, violence, precocious sexual behavior and behaviors leading to HIV/AIDS. . . .

SIS training is designed to respond to difficulties students and adults identify as their greatest challenges in difficult interpersonal situations. They say it is difficult to say what is in their minds and hearts in a straightforward way because of fears such as being rejected or not liked, of hurting someone’s feelings, of being embarrassed or being held responsible. These fears make it difficult for people to hear their own inner voice of wisdom. Instead, they do their best to take care of themselves by people-pleasing, blaming or bullying, becoming sarcastic, lecturing, becoming passive-aggressive or disruptive, etc. When we use these communications we disempower ourselves and others. SIS is designed to help people be in the world in an empowering way by honoring themselves, others and the issues in their lives.

SIS empowers people to:

Develop and use empowering communications/behaviors.
Develop resiliency and wellness.
Prevent high-risk or destructive behaviors.
Develop positive relationships and teamwork.
Connect to inner resources and express deepest yearnings.
Develop high self-esteem.
Be personally and socially responsible.
Implement constructive decisions.
Improve quality of life.
Listen to their own inner voice of wisdom.
Respect themselves, others and life issues.

Students develop skills they report lacking:

How do I say no to a friend?
How do I say I have quit, to my friends?
How do I say to a friend, I care about you and I'm scared when I see what you are doing?

SIS is cognitive, affective and psychomotor and can be done in about 7 to 10 class sessions, depending on age and group size. More extensive training is done in other settings, such as treatment, after-care groups, prison, detention and probation.

SIS is co-created by participants making it appropriate and sensitive for all age, gender, cultural and ethnic groups in any setting.

Say It Straight Foundation has trained about 3,000 people to work with youth, parents, couples, families, communities and organizations in many settings. Trainers come from all walks of life and include teachers, counselors, administrators, ATOD prevention and treatment providers, nurses, community volunteers, therapists, physicians, police and probation officers and ministers.

Evidence Basis

Assessments or Data Sources: Prestests/posttests that come with the curriculum.

DIAGNOSTIC

Needs Assessment/Outcomes Design Match

The knowledge outcome does not seem to match the risk factors of behavior or perception of risk in girls 9+, or the risk factors of accepting personal responsibility, being a positive role model or leader, defending views under group pressure, and education and learning problems for children under 9.

A stronger match would be at least one outcome relating to attitude or risk perception for girls 9+, and at least one outcome relating to personal responsibility, being a positive role model, or education/learning for girls under 9.

For this population, outcomes could focus on alcohol.

Outcomes Design/Outcome Data Match

Pretest/posttest scores from curriculum pretest/posttest. Do these measure only knowledge? The outcome using these scores purports to assess only knowledge.

There is no data source for changing attitudes or perceptions. If the curriculum pretest/posttest includes attitude items, these might be used to measure outcomes for attitudes, if those items were separated from the items reporting knowledge.

The risk factors for children under 9 are not matched by measurable data. It would strongly be recommended to include instruction in peer refusal skills and measuring these skills by simple checklists or other scoring systems.

Since the agency addresses homework and academic support, it would be recommended to develop some convenient way of measuring help with learning problems, since this was an identified risk area.

Prevention Program Theory/Evidence-Based Programs Match

Say It Straight (http://www.sayitstraight.org/PAGE3.html) is a nationally-recognized curriculum, however much of the research on it seems to have been done by the developer of the curriculum. Independent corroboration would be preferred.

Say It Straight is a SAMHSA promising program (the lowest of the three categories: model, effective, or promising). It is not mentioned in NIDA’s Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents, 2nd Edition.

Calculations of Cost Effectiveness

No evidence was provided on program cost-effectiveness.

ACTION PLAN

Submitted Action Plan

Action Plan

Followup on the Action Plan is suggested.

Action Plan addresses a curriculum used previously. This needs to be adjusted. Also, perhaps parts of previous science-based curriculum could be used to address some of the issues identified, such as peer refusal, risk perception, personal responsibility, or being a positive role model.

Direct questions or comments about the Web site to jordan@tempest.coedu.usf.edu

Knowledge about substance abuse addressed?	Yes.
Attitudes about substance abuse addressed?	Yes.
Substance abuse behavior addressed?	Yes.
Refusal skills/peer resistance taught?	Yes.
Negative media messages addressed?	Yes.
Stress management/anger control/self-control addressed?	Yes.
Decision-making skills/critical thinking addressed?	Yes.
Self-esteem addressed?	Yes.
High and positive life goals promoted?	Yes.
Self-efficacy/sense of personal power/personal optimism promoted?	Yes.
Other issues addressed?	Self-sufficiency, career exploration.
Opportunity for youth leadership with peers or in community?	Yes. Teen clubs, service learning projects.
Recognize program participants for achievement? (e.g., awards, celebrations)	Yes. 40 Developmental Assets’ Shining Moments celebrates a girl who does something really good on her own initiative.