Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jan 2013
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2013 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Andrew Seidman, Inquirer Staff Writer

N.J. SCHOOL DRUG-ABUSE PREVENTION GROUP IN CONFLICT WITH NATIONAL
D.A.R.E. PROGRAM

The New Jersey chapter of the country's largest drug-abuse prevention
program for schoolchildren is in jeopardy of losing its charter in a
dispute over a national curriculum it says is unproved.

The state chapter of Drug Abuse Resistance Education, popularly known
as D.A.R.E., introduced an alternate curriculum in New Jersey
elementary schools in July, allegedly without seeking approval of its
parent organization, D.A.R.E. America.

The move came after the New Jersey Association of School
Administrators notified New Jersey D.A.R.E. Inc. in October 2011 it
would not allow the national nonprofit group's program, "keepin' it
REAL," to be introduced in grade schools because it had not been
recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as
effective for young children.

Another version of "keepin' it REAL," approved by researchers and the
federal government, has been in use in New Jersey middle schools.

The state group implemented the substitute curriculum "Too Good for
Drugs," prompting D.A.R.E. America to send it a cease-and-desist
letter in November. The choice of a "disapproved" and "competing"
curriculum was grounds for revocation of its charter, the national
organization said.

D.A.R.E. sends local police into schools to instruct students about
how to make decisions about drug and alcohol use.

"Too Good for Drugs" includes material about marijuana, prescription
medications, and other drugs, whereas D.A.R.E. America's program is
limited to tobacco and alcohol, said Allan Cohen, founder of and
senior scientist with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

The decision by the chapter to reject its parent group's approach
comes as support for D.A.R.E. has eroded nationally over concerns
about its effectiveness. Schools in Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota,
and cities including Detroit and Chicago have dropped the program in
recent years, usually in favor of other drug-awareness
curriculums.

About 60 percent of school districts have scrapped D.A.R.E. since the
mid-2000s in the 32 states where data were available, according to a
2012 study. D.A.R.E. America disputes that figure.

For New Jersey D.A.R.E. to lose its charter could be a devastating
blow to the national organization, based in Inglewood, Calif.,
drug-abuse researchers say.

It could send it into "a death spiral," said Cohen, who analyzed the
study, which was commissioned by D.A.R.E. New Jersey. The chapter,
which operates in 750 schools and all 21 counties, is the nation's
largest state program, he said.

"It is unacceptable and indeed outrageous" that New Jersey would drop
D.A.R.E. America's curriculum, Charlie J. Parsons, then-chief
executive and president of the national group, wrote Nicholas R.
DeMauro, his counterpart at D.A.R.E. New Jersey.

Worse, Parsons said, it was done "surreptitiously."

D.A.R.E. New Jersey says it sent four letters to the national group
before it implemented "Too Good for Drugs," according to court documents.

Its decision was forced by the New Jersey school administrators'
rejection of the new "keepin' it REAL" curriculum, the chapter said.
And it, too, believed research was needed to verify the program's
value to youngsters.

"We want to be under the D.A.R.E. umbrella because we believe in the
mission. But shame on them for insisting on offering a curriculum
that's not evidence-based," DeMauro said Friday.

New Jersey D.A.R.E. began to offer "Too Good for Drugs" for high
schoolers in 2009, and D.A.R.E. America did not object, the state
group added.

A federal judge in California granted the chapter a preliminary
injunction in December, which allowed it to continue to operate. The
two sides are headed to mediation and arbitration this month.

Should the chapter lose its charter, DeMauro said, his organization
would continue its efforts under another name. He hopes it won't come
to that.

"We have worked for 22 years to build up the D.A.R.E. name like no one
else in the country," he said. "Why would we want to give up
everything we worked so hard for?"

D.A.R.E. has come in for its share of criticism. In the early 2000s,
the U.S. General Accounting Office, the U.S. Surgeon General, the
National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health
all concluded the program had little value. The U.S. Department of
Education stopped funding it in 2009.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education did the same four years ago
because of budget constraints, according to the state Commission on
Crime and Delinquency. In Philadelphia, some schools offer it, said
Fernando Gallard, spokesman for the district. But the district has its
own drug-education program.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, where D.A.R.E. was founded in
1983, scrapped the program in the late 1990s because it was not
"evidence-based or research-validated," said Timothy Kordic, a
district spokesman. It now uses a number of programs, including "Too
Good for Drugs."

D.A.R.E. America says it is in talks to reinstate the program there,
but Kordic said it would probably never be district-wide.

Some states and cities have implemented their own programs. In
Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minn., former addicts teach students about
the perils of drug abuse, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported last
month.

Frank Pegueros, D.A.R.E. America's chief executive, said that about 70
percent of U.S. schools use D.A.R.E., and that 200 groups had
reimplemented it in the last year. Nowhere else has there been a
complaint about the grade school curriculum, the group's board
chairman said.

About 15 percent of New Jersey school districts that used D.A.R.E.
stopped it over roughly the last eight years. Mount Laurel dropped it
about a decade ago, said district spokeswoman Marie Reynolds. "We
could have more flexibility doing our own program," she said.

Pemberton schools have D.A.R.E. because "that's what the township
offers us," said Kathleen Devlin, the district's security chief.
"Anytime you can get the message out to kids about substance abuse and
the consequences, you can't go wrong with that," she said.

If the state chapter loses its charter, the district would need to
find a new program, Devlin said.

Pegueros said that may not be necessary. D.A.R.E. America has reached
out to organizations in the state that could take over the chapter's
role, he said.

But a new group still would have to contend with the school
administrators' association.

"If Joe Schmo wants to come in and take over the charter, they're
going to have the same problem we have," DeMauro said.
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