Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT) Copyright: 2000 The Billings Gazette Contact: P.O. Box 36300, Billings, MT 59101-6300 Fax: 406-657-1208 Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/ Author: Pat Bellinghausen, Of The Gazette Staff Note: A sidebar of related meetings, etc. appears at the end. CITY GROUPS UNITE TO PREVENT DRUG ABUSE A coalition of Billings nonprofit organizations is poised to attack the community's drug problems with prevention programs. The Billings Healthier Communities Coalition signed a contract earlier this month with the state Department of Public Health and Human Services to use about $800,000 in federal grant funds for a variety of drug, alcohol and tobacco prevention programs over the next three years. United Way of Yellowstone County will be the fiscal agent and help handle reimbursement through the state Addictive and Mental Disorders Division. This grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration was approved last October after months of work by volunteers from Billings organizations, including both local hospitals and colleges and the Yellowstone City-County Health Department. It was awarded from an allocation of nearly $9 million in federal funds that Montana can use for community drug prevention programs. After months of processing the Billings grant through federal and state bureaucracies, first-year funds are just now becoming available. Agencies that are instituting and expanding programs for Billings kids were informed Tuesday by state officials that reimbursements can be requested starting next month. The largest project to be paid through this grant is a prevention curriculum that eventually will reach all 16,000 or so District 2 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Among other programs are projects conducted by Family Tree Center, Tumbleweed runaway program, CASA (community after school program), Boys and Girls Club, Planned Parenthood and Montana State University-Billings. Part of the requirement for obtaining this prevention grant is using programs scientifically proven to produce positive changes in young people. "The programs that we're putting out there have been tested," said Ernie Randolfi, an associate professor at MSU-B. "We're not experimenting. We're replicating programs that have been proven effective, We're not just wasting people's money." Randolfi and Associate Professor Carl Hanson, both of the MSU-B health promotion department, wrote the grant application and are coordinating implementation and evaluation of the programs. Some of the prevention programs will need the help of community volunteers, especially for mentoring youth. "That's how we are going to reduce drug use in our young people," Randolfi said. Young people need caring adults in their lives to help them avoid involvement with drugs. Funding is another area in which ongoing community support will be needed. "This is just an initiation grant. Our funding runs out in three years," Randolfi explained. "We have to figure out how to sustain those efforts after three years." Big Brothers and Big Sisters is among the programs that will get a boost from the drug prevention grant. It will provide some money for staff to recruit adult volunteers as well as recruiting high school students for a similar one-to-one program. Big Brothers and Sisters of America's mentoring program was found to be effective at reducing the "little" brothers and sisters involvement in risky behaviors, said Reatha Thomas, executive director of the program in Billings. A 1995 study found that youth who were matched with caring adults in Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America for a year were 46 percent less likely to start using drugs. "This is exactly the program that we do here in Billings," Thomas said. "We've got something here that works. We've just got to get it working for more kids that means we need the adult volunteers. We want to be more proactive when it comes to prevention programs. We don't want to just react to the statistics." Thomas said Tuesday that her organization has 70 Billings children ready to be matched with adult volunteers who will spend some time with them each week. Pat Bellinghausen can be reached at (406) 657-1303, or by e-mail (SIDEBAR) Here are some ideas for participating in Billings drug prevention efforts: Attend a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in Lincoln Education Center with Barry McCaffrey, director of the National Office of Drug Policy; Sen. Max Baucus; Gov. Marc Racicot and other officials to discuss dealing with drug and addiction problems. Join the Billings Healthier Community Coalition at its regular meeting at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 27 in the Deaconess Health Conference Center. Business people, students and other community members are welcome to join this broad-based group of community agencies involved in health, education and children's services. The community youth drug prevention grant will be the first topic of discussion at the meeting. Advertising and marketing professionals are needed to help a coalition of Billings nonprofit agencies develop multimedia social norms marketing campaign with prevention messages. Call Ernie Randolfi, associate professor at Montana State University, Billings at 657-2123 or e-mail Learn more about opportunities to mentor local youth at "Mentoring 101," at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 24 at Deaconess Health Conference Center. Call Jessica or Pam at the United Way Volunteer Center for more information. Call Big Brothers and Sisters at 248-2229 to learn about become a "big" for one of the 70 boys and girls waiting for a match. These are Billings children, ranging in age from 6 to 16. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart