An in-depth explanation

Hey everyone!

The coalition meetings are going well and we are making significant progress on a K2 speaker event for Kilgore ISD and on a survey for Kilgore Middle School students about their attitudes about drugs and alcohol. Gathering this information is so important to our future strategies! 

Our next meeting is Thursday, March 26 at Kilgore Middle School at noon in the conference room.

One of my requirements for being a coalition coordinator is that I give 20 minute presentations to community groups about twice a month. I think (hope!) I am getting better at explaining what a community coalition does, so I thought I'd share this latest script with you if you are still trying to wrap your head around it. I made this presentation at the Kilgore Lions Club. (Note: the handouts I mention in the script are on in the links on the right side of this page). It's long, but hey, you try improvising for 20 minutes!

Hello, my name is Rebecca Smith. I work for Next Step Community Solutions, a nonprofit in Tyler that works to address underlying issues that keep East Texans from being successful.

One of our programs is funded through a grant with the Department of State Health Services. We are working to create what the state calls community coalitions—basically bringing members of the community together to address three big issues: underage drinking, marijuana abuse and prescription drug abuse.

According to our regional analysis, the biggest problem far and away is underage drinking. Can anyone guess what the average age of first use of alcohol is in Texas?

It’s 11.5 in Texas. At the national level, it’s 16.

This is a statistic I got from MADD, and it shocked me: “During last year’s back-to-school season (Aug. 15, 2013, to Sept. 16, 2013), there were 196 alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in Texas involving drivers between 16 and 20 years old under the influence of alcohol.”

That’s almost 200 in one month.

Substance abuse and mental health issues (which often go hand-in-hand) are projected to be the number one cause of disability by the year 2020.

Prevention is handled a little differently, and I think much better, than it was in the past. In the past you had the “Just Say No” message from officials, which wasn’t effective for most people. Now, the state is focused on getting community members involved in addressing the issues in their area that make addiction more likely. We call these risk factors. I have a handout with several risk factors listed for you to consider.

A big risk factor is what we call adverse childhood experiences. These are things like abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction. There was a big study on these experiences, and researchers found that out of the 17,000 people surveyed, about half have experienced one or more instances of abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction in their childhood.

So it’s no wonder that substance abuse is such a problem.

So we have the people who are addicted to alcohol or drugs because it’s a coping mechanism. But early use is a major contributor to addiction as well.

What many people—what many PARENTS—haven’t heard about is the fairly new research (most that I’ve seen came out in the early 2000s) that says the earlier you are introduced to alcohol and drugs, the drastically more likely you are to be addicted and the more dramatically it affects your brain. Many parents think that if they give their children alcohol at home, they are teaching them how to drink responsibly. They don’t realize that they are actually endangering their children’s futures. The better that parents understand that AND communicate it to their children, the less likely it is their children will drink.

But another thing—and this is the good part—that impacts substance abuse is what we call protective factors. Protective factors are things that make it LESS likely that a young person will start using. These are things like having a safe home environment, having affectionate parents, having teachers who hold you to high standards and believe in you. I’ll hand out this list of the 40 developmental assets so you can see more examples of protective factors.

Now, these are split up into two categories—external and internal. And they are both pretty important. When we do the training on this information, they have you go through and check which of these developmental assets you have. I have a colleague whose family has a history of substance abuse, and she realized most of her assets were from her own internal motivation. So there are those kids that come from not the greatest of situations but are able to break those cycles. But they are rare.

So what our group does is look at data from the community that tells us which risk factors are a problem and which protective factors are lacking, and we systematically address each issue as we have the manpower and the resources to do so.

This work can be a little nebulous when I explain it to people, so here’s an analogy that really helped solidify it for me. If you had fish that were dying in a lake, you wouldn’t blame the fish; you would look for what was wrong with the lake that was making the fish sick.

We hope to bring together members of the community from every background: law enforcement, the faith community, youth, parents, and members of civic groups like yourself. We need people to make presentations and spread awareness.

Awareness of how early use promotes addiction and hinders brain development is just one of our projects. We are also working with the Kilgore Police Department—and they’ve been great, I cannot speak of them highly enough—to work with the TABC to catch retailers selling alcohol to minors with minor volunteers and undercover officers. You’d be amazed how often that happens. We are just getting started getting officers trained and getting policy in place. So hopefully we can set it up so that there are consistent, sustainable stings. Research from other states shows that is the best way to make sure retailers are doing what they are supposed to.

Another project we’re working on is a partner with Kilgore Middle School. You all have some great administrative staff at the schools here. Kilgore Middle School has an advisory period where kids either have the opportunity to attend tutorials or UIL practice from 8 to 8:25 in the morning. The students who don’t need either of those are kept in one of two gyms or the cafeteria, separated by grade. So there are about 300 kids every day who we have the opportunity to teach about substance abuse and mental health. It’s a great opportunity.

And it’s desperately needed. I’ve spoken with administrators in the area who have already dealt with students being arrested for using, students who self-identify as self-harming, and students who have made suicide attempts.

These kids need their community to invest in them. They need you to invest in them.

So we are looking for a program that will address those other mental health issues as well as substance abuse. And there are a lot of programs out there that have been proven effective in addressing both, because those behaviors often come from the same place of unhealthy thinking. Once we find a program that will work in that large group setting, we will need volunteers to help deliver it; I think you all would be perfect for that.

As another example of the countless ways you can address risk factors, the project my colleague who covers the counties north of here is starting is something that her coalition came up with to address the issue of parents providing alcohol in their homes to minors. It’s called the “Not in my House” campaign; parents sign a pledge that they won’t provide alcohol to minors—their kids or anyone else’s—in their home. They also put a “not in my house” yard sign in their yard. We’re hoping this will create a groundswell of parents taking a stand. This addresses what we call the social access risk factor.

Another example of something that addresses a different issue our grant covers is what another colleague is doing in Smith County to prevent prescription drug abuse. Research has been showing us that kids will sometimes steal their parents or grandparents prescriptions, which is very dangerous. So my colleague is raising money to buy an incinerator for the police department to safely dispose of prescription drugs (a lot of people think you should flush them, but that’s actually really bad for the water supply).

All our strategies are different, because our communities are different. A big part of coalition work is understanding what will work for your community at the time.

There are so many different ways to address the factors that impact the chances of substance abuse. I read recently that a child who eats dinner with his family at least about five days a week is 50 percent less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol. We were daydreaming about that the other day and thought wouldn’t it be fun to partner with churches to offer a weekly family meal or to suggest dinner conversation topics, or have a website with suggested easy recipes (that was my favorite, I love looking at recipes).

I am really excited about where prevention is going. It’s so much more thoughtful and strategic.

But really, our biggest obstacle is finding people who are passionate about the future of the community and willing to do something about it by helping us come up with ways to reduce substance abuse. We have big ideas, like ordinances, restaurant policies, creative campaigns. The sky is the limit, but we need more capacity before we can tackle them.

I would love to provide each family in Kilgore with a little prevention Jiminy Cricket, but we don’t have the capacity to do that. Maybe next year.

This is a long road I am hoping you join me on. Sometimes I get frustrated because prevention work can take so long, but one of the things that keeps me inspired is looking at the history of the anti-smoking movement. In the 60s, about 40 percent of people smoked. But after decades of education about how terrible it is for you, as well as ordinances and policies that protect people from secondhand smoke (and make smoking more inconvenient), and rising cigarette prices, the percentage of people who smoke now is down to 18 percent and dropping. We can do that same thing with our goals in substance abuse prevention.

So, if you are interested in being part of the coalition, I have a sign-up sheet up here. Our next meeting will be at noon Dec. 18 in the conference room at Kilgore Middle School.

Nothing is Hopeless

When it comes to charitable causes, some issues get more support than others. Unfortunately, there is a lot of stigma around addiction that makes people question if it's worth their effort to support.

"Because the addiction-treatment system is so ineffective, people assume addicts can't get well--that they're hopeless," writes David Sheff in his book "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy."

"Because of the failure of prevention strategies, people assume that no matter what anyone does, kids are going to use. But both prevention and treatment fail for the same reason: the stigma of addiction that is based on the widely held but archaic view that good people don't use; bad people do ... Yet, as I've reported, 80 percent of America's children will at least try alcohol or other drugs [according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse]. Do we really believe most of our children are bad?"

Addicts weren't children who wanted to be addicts when they grew up, and no one thinks they will get addicted. When you are addicted, your brain tells you that you need drugs the way that the brain of someone who doesn't struggle with addiction tells them that they need food. It's a disease, not a choice. If you were starving and food was as difficult to get as drugs were, you'd do some pretty desperate things to get it too.

The goal of the Smart Start Coalition is to prevent underage drinking, marijuana use and prescription drug abuse. And it's a tall order. Prevention is so difficult, not because people are naturally drawn to drugs, but because so many things in our lives make it more likely we will use them (a low perception of harm, access from friends and family, adverse childhood experiences).

But it's not hopeless.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, it's important to get help right away. The number for the East Texas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse is 800-441-8639.

If you are interested in joining a prevention coalition in Gregg, Marion, or Harrison counties, we'd love to have your help. Call 903-939-9010 for more information.

It will take small steps that add up to big changes.

November Meeting Minutes

Another great meeting! I am running out of happy gifs, and that's a great problem to have! 

Here are the meeting minutes:

Attendees: Brandon Davidson, April Cox, Richard Stanley, Julyann Sanders, Erin LaCoste, Claire Nichols, Irelyn Williams

Brandon called the meeting to order at 12:10pm and asked members to introduce themselves. We had two youth representatives from Kilgore Middle School present (Claire & Irelynn). April Cox says that she would like to have student representation at all coalition meetings going forward.

Brandon updated the group on progress made regarding our compliance check strategy. Kilgore PD and TABC met and conducted a training and are looking forward to beginning compliance checks soon. They are optimistic that they can check all retail locations serving alcohol for off-premise use before our fiscal year 2015 concludes in September.

Brandon updated the group on Rebecca’s search for a program that would meet the needs of Kilgore Middle School’s advisory period. She is still searching and wants to find a program that helps increase protective factors for students while helping to minimize the risk factors that lead students to negative activities including self harm and substance abuse.

April shared with us Kilgore ISD’s need for a speaker that could talk with the high school and middle school about the dangers of K2 (synthetic marijuana). Brandon will get with Rebecca and locate a speaker for the district to use.

Officer Stanley shared that there have been a number of drug related issues at the high school and that we could expand our efforts to include them.

As a group we revisited the idea of a “suggestion box.” April asked if it could be web/app based. Brandon will investigate and report back.

Brandon distributed copies of the coalition’s implementation plan. Members will review plans and discuss later. As a group we talked about the need for additional members to help more adequately represent the Kilgore community. Members offered the names of potential new members and they will follow-up and invite them to a future meeting.

December meeting was scheduled for Thursday, December 18th at 12pm at Kilgore Middle School in the Conference Room.

Brandon Davidson adjourned the meeting at 1:25 p.m.

What's the Harm if my Kid has a Glass of Wine at Thanksgiving?

In Texas, it's legal for parents to give alcohol to their children if they are under their supervision. But just because it's legal doesn't mean you should!
We've noticed that parents get really defensive if they believe you are trying to tell them how to raise their kids.

But we have a reason for saying you should think twice before letting your kids try alcohol, even under your watch. Namely, it affects their brain development! This is from a colleague who has a great blog, http://etexsac.blogspot.com.

Brains under construction: Neuroscientists have determined that the adolescent brain is going through a specific "pruning" process, wherein the myriad of underused connections that were established in childhood are being severed. This process makes adult brains function much more efficiently than those of adolescents and children. The thing is, this process is development--it is akin to mixing up cake batter for a recipe, albeit a recipe that takes about 12 years to complete. Adding substances to the mixture can have pretty serious consequences. Messing with the brain chemistry of youths by overstimulating their dopamine receptors, etc., can have unpredictable, negative outcomes.

Additional vulnerability: Brains mature from the back/bottom (the brain stem area from where fundamental processes arise) to the top/front (where judgement lives). This bit of trivia means that young people are often  more likely to experiment and disregard consequences than they would be after the full development of the frontal cortex.

Correlation between early exposure and later alcohol problems: The average age of first use of alcohol in Texas is 13.5 years old. Statistically, the later a person begins using alcohol, the less likely he or she is to develop an alcohol abuse problem later in life. In the chart below, you can see that youth who begin drinking prior to age 15 have a 40% likelihood of having serious alcohol issues in adulthood. But the later we can delay their exposure to alcohol, the better their odds become, with young people beginning to drink around age 21 having only a 10% chance of serious alcohol issues.

Coalition Meeting Minutes

Hey everyone! I am so pumped about the things that have been happening with the coalition lately! The Kilgore community is so supportive and encouraging! Makes me feel like this:

Here are the meeting minutes from Thursday's coalition meeting:

Rebecca introduces herself to the group and talks about the strategic plan. Since the principal, April Cox, and the school nurse, Julyann Sanders, invited the coalition to Kilgore Middle School, Rebecca focused on the possibility of a program at the school per objective 2.A in the strategic plan.

Group talks about Kilgore Middle School advisory period, and the possibility of finding a program to fit into that time. Positive Action may be a fit.

We would need a program that could be implemented with 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade that would be easy to follow on each day individually as the same students aren’t in the assemblies over time (others rotate into tutorials as needed). The time allotted is from 8 to 8:25 a.m.

The group wondered if parents would be willing and able to help implement the program.

Mrs. Cox explained that Kilgore uses the STAR Counseling Program, where counselors are called and go to the homes of students who appear to need help. The group discussed the possibility of using the counseling program of Next Step Community Solutions. The administrators were aware of at least four suicide attempts already this year. Right now there is more need than there are counselors available.

Mrs. Cox explained that the staff at Kilgore Middle School and Officer Richard Stanley, SRO, have received mental health training.

David Dickerson mentioned a DSHS program for suicide prevention that might be beneficial for the school.

The group discussed the possibility of a tip box so that students can let the staff know of any issues they are having or know of with substance abuse or other dangerous issues. Mrs. Cox felt that the staff does a good job of making sure students know that they can come talk whenever they need to. Officer Stanley mentioned a problem that arose with a similar program with the police department, in which someone would use the tip service instead of 911 for emergencies. The group agreed that any program used for gathering information on sensitive subjects would need to have a way to ensure the issues were addressed in a timely manner.

Rebecca mentioned that she would be interested in getting a focus group of students together to help inform the coalition’s work, where students would offer their ideas and advice on prevention. Mrs. Cox and Rebecca agreed to flesh out that idea together.

The group discussed the importance of sustainability of prevention programs in the community. Unfortunately, prevention efforts in the past had come to a standstill when funding ended.

The coalition felt that there were advantages and disadvantages to having a community that recently had a well-known prevention program in place. There may be a good deal of community buy-in as there was with the previous program, or the community may have donor fatigue on the issue. In the past, fundraising efforts were often not successful. Perhaps going in with sustainability in mind will help to solve this problem.

Rebecca emphasized the importance of Letters of Agreement and Memorandums of Understanding, and asked the attendees to consider signing whichever is appropriate, and committed to emailing those documents at a later date.

The group discussed the Texans Standing Tall coalition and discussed their Zero Alcohol for Youth Campaign. Rebecca agreed to get that information and information on other programs that may be a fit for Kilgore Middle School to Mrs. Cox.

Brandon Davidson explained the meeting that was held with the TABC officer and how Kilgore can go about implementing consistent, sustainable compliance checks (stings).

The group discussed the ineffectiveness of Red Ribbon Week and hopes to implement a more effective practice in the future.

The group decided they like meeting at Kilgore Middle School, and Mrs. Cox offered their conference room for future meetings. She explained that Nov. 20 would be an ideal meeting date as November is scheduled to be a busy month.

East Texas Substance Abuse Coalition: Alcohol Compliance Checks

My colleague wrote a great post about compliance checks, which are one of our goals this year for Kilgore! Follow the link below to read about why the checks are so important.

East Texas Substance Abuse Coalition: Alcohol Compliance Checks: Compliance checks, also known as “stings,” involve an underage operative (a “decoy”), working with either law enforcement officials or agen...

Kilgore Police and City Council Meeting

Yesterday was a great day for the Smart Start Coalition! The Kilgore Police Chief has offered his support, and I got a chance to explain the coalition at the city council meeting last night, and even had some people interested in learning more afterward. This is pretty much how I felt:

Next step, getting in touch with the right person at the TABC to figure out how to implement those compliance checks. Onward!