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Substance Abuse Council of Indian River County Life Skills Training Program CSAC of IRC , B. PROGRAM NEED STATEMENT (Entire Section B not to exceed one page. 1 . a) What is the unacceptable condition requiring change? b) Who has the need? c) Where do they live? d) Provide local, state, or national trend data, with reference source, that corroborates that this is an area of need. According to the Florida Youth Substance Abuse (FYSA) and PRIDE Surveys, IRC youth exhibit above average risk factors and levels of drug usage. They reveal the extent of substance abuse occurring amongst our young. Even though there has been a downward pattern in drug use trends over the past few years, IRC youth are still reporting drug use and delinquent behavior that will negatively affect their lives and our society. IRC youth key Drug- Use Trends from the FYSA Survey 2000 to the 2006 reflect the same observed pattern of reduced ATOD use as in the statewide survey. • The "past-30-day use of alcohol" by surveyed middle school students declined from 25% to 19. 8% . • "Past-30-day use of marijuana" by surveyed middle school students declined from 5 . 8% in 2000 to 4. 9%. • Cigarette use among students declined sharply in the past years. In 2000, 22.7% of surveyed students reported some use of cigarettes over the `past 30 days ", compared to 12. 2% in 2006 , but Smokeless Tobacco has increased from 4.7% to 5 .5%. Attitudes toward Drug Use • 73 % of students perceive daily use of cigarettes poses a "great risk" of harm, (up from 64%). • The "perceived harm" of marijuana use declines as students get older, while the fear of cigarette use actually appears to increase. While 73 .3% of surveyed middle school students (up from 69 .6% in 06) believe regular marijuana use poses a "great risk" of harm, this number drops to 51 . 1 % (down from 59.7% in 06) among high school students • Disapproval of substance use appears to decline as students get older. For instance, disapproval of alcohol use 77 .7 % in middle school and 47 .6% in high school, disapproval of cigarette use 88.7% in middle school and 62. 1 % in high school and disapproval of marijuana use (91 . 3 % in middle school and 66 . 5% in high school) all decline between middle school and high school . Risk and Protective Factors • Surveyed students reported higher scores on the Transitions and Mobility, Poor Family Management and Favorable Attitudes toward Antisocial Behavior risk factor scales when compared to the national average of 50. This means that students in IRC are at greater risk for involvement in drug use and other antisocial behaviors due to a lack of long-term neighborhood connection, poor family management and due to students ' acceptance of antisocial behaviors. Parental use/parental attitude towards ATOD/use also correlate with adolescent attitudes towards/use. These key findings illustrate the complexity of drug use and antisocial behavior among IRC ' s youth and the possible factors that may contribute to these activities. While some of the findings indicate positive change and compare favorably to the national findings, IRC youth are still reporting drug use and delinquent behavior that will negatively affect their lives and exceed state and national averages. These risk and protective factors also indicate that there continues to be a need for a comprehensive substance abuse prevention program. a) Identify similar programs that are currently serving the needs of your targeted population ; b) Explain how these existing programs are under-serving the targeted population of your program. Local Law enforcement provides the DARE program to all 5` ' grade students. No specific substance abuse prevention programs are directed at the middle schools. Additionally, New Horizons and DATA provide Student Support Specialists and services in the public middle schools. These agencies work with a very small, indicated population of students and do not serve the entire population. These remaining youth would receive no additional program services if the LST program were not available. Collaboration is a part of the services provided to universal populations. The LST program provides no duplication of services. 4