It appears that in spite of the numerous programs the government has put into place, they have not made progress on most of their drug control goals:   

"The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the federal government has not made progress on most goals for reducing drug use, which were outlined in the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, UPI reports.
 

The strategy included seven goals, including reducing drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds by 15 percent. There has been no progress on this goal, primarily because of an increase in teens’ use of marijuana, GAO reported. Teens have decreased their use of other drugs, the report noted. The GAO noted programs designed to prevent and treat drug abuse are spread over 15 federal agencies, some of which provide overlapping services.
 

“These programs could provide or fund one or more drug abuse prevention or treatment service that at least one other program could also provide or fund, either to similar population groups or to reach similar program goals,” the report stated. “Such fragmentation and overlap may result in inefficient use of resources among programs providing similar services.”
 

Many prevention and treatment programs that GAO surveyed did not report coordination efforts, according to the report. The office noted 40 percent of surveyed programs said there was no coordination with other federal agencies on drug abuse prevention or treatment activities. The Office of National Drug Control Policy has said it will work with agencies administering federal programs that provide drug abuse prevention and treatment activities to enhance coordination, according to the article."

The good news? In spite of the fragmentation of services and the fact that their use of marijuana has increased, according to the report, teens have actually decreased their use of other drugs.

What is your organization doing to coordinate multiple community services in your area? How can you work together to prevent program fragmentation and enhance the distribution of services and programs to the teens in your community?

According to The Partnership at Drugfree.org, a study conducted by the Journal of Adolescent Health found: "Parents’ smoking behavior influences their teens’ decisions about cigarette use throughout high school, a new study suggests. Peer pressure to smoke is greater during middle school than high school, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. The findings indicate smoking intervention programs designed to counteract peer pressure to smoke should be aimed at middle school students, instead of high school students, the researchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
 

The findings on peer pressure were surprising to the researchers, HealthDay reports. 'We thought friends would have more influence on cigarette use during high school than junior high school,' said study author Yue Liao. 'But what we found was friends have greater influence during junior high school than high school. We think the reason may be that friends’ cigarette use behavior may have a stronger influence on youth who start smoking at a younger age,' she noted in a press release. 'During high school, cigarette use might represent the maintenance of behavior rather than a result of peer influence.'
 

The study included 1,000 teens who were first questioned in seventh grade. They were reassessed after six months, and then annually until they were in twelfth grade. They answered questions about how many of their close friends and parents smoked, and how many cigarettes they themselves had smoked in the past month. They saw a large decrease in friends’ influence from eighth to ninth grade."
 

This study shows us that a) apparently the programs to help prevent smoking in high schoolers appear to be working; b) we now need to target middle school-aged youths as well.
 

What is your organization doing? Do you have a smoking prevention program, and if so, have you started targeting middle school-aged children yet? If not, it might be time. 

News from the Division of Federal Program Compliance re: the Texas Education Agency
 

As described in the Application Guidelines to the 2012-2013 Special Consolidated Grant application, this message is to remind local educational agencies (LEAs) that the 2012-2013 Special Education SC5100—Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) Data Collection Form is due to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 30, 2012.
 

The SC5100—Coordinated Early Intervening Services Data Collection Form must be submitted annually by LEAs to report the number of children who received coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) and who subsequently received special education and/or related services.
 

All LEAs (single-member districts and fiscal agents of shared services arrangement) that reserved CEIS funds during the 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and/or 2011-2012 school years must certify and submit this data by the deadline.

The Northwestern Juvenile Project*:

According to a recent study, substance use disorders are common five years after juveniles are released from detention.
 

Males are two to three times more likely to use alcohol and drugs compared with females, HealthDay reports. Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago interviewed 1,200 males and more than 650 females, ages 10 to 18, who were being held at a juvenile detention center. They were interviewed again several times, up to five years later. More than 45 percent of males and almost 30 percent of females had psychiatric disorders. Alcohol and drug use were the most common and persistent psychiatric disorders, the study found.
 

While it has been known that psychiatric disorders are common among teenagers in detention, this is the first study to examine whether these disorders persisted in subsequent years, the researchers said.
 

“These findings demonstrate the need for special programs — especially for substance use disorders — not only while these kids are in corrections but also when they return to the community,” lead author Linda Teplin said in a news release. “People think these kids are locked up forever, but the average stay is only two weeks."
 

The good news is that while psychiatric disorders are prevalent among incarcerated juveniles, MOST juveniles eventually return to their communities, where they become the responsibility of the community mental health system. However, no large-scale study has examined psychiatric disorders after youth leave detention.
 

Linda Teplin has a suggestion to help these youth: "Obviously, it’s better to provide community services than to build correctional facilities. Otherwise, the lack of services perpetuates the revolving door between the community and corrections.”
 

As a community services organization, what have you done lately to help the youth in peril within your community? What programs do you have in place to help alleviate substance disorders and/or abuse in youth and teens?

* Authors of the study: Linda A. Teplin, PhD; Leah J. Welty, PhD; Karen M. Abram, PhD; Mina K. Dulcan, MD; Jason J. Washburn, PhD