Council for Drug Free Youth (CDFY) is bringing all of its programs to Osage County, expanding its reach to combat alcohol and drug abuse in children and teenagers. It is partnering with the Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team, which was established last year.
The prevention programs will be established at nine public and private schools in the county, funded by an $8,000 one-time grant from the United Way of Central Missouri. Current facilitators and volunteers will travel to Osage County to administer CDFY's Safety Kids, Show-Me Players and Uplift programs, CDFY executive director Joy Sweeney said.
Safety Kids, one of CDFY's most popular programs, uses peer-to-peer education through song and dance. Fifth-grade students rehearse a skit and perform it for their younger classmates.
Show-Me Players and Uplift turn seventh- and ninth-grade students, respectively, into actors who perform various drugs- and alcohol-related scenarios. They put on performances for fellow students in lower grades, further promoting prevention education between students.
Uplift students also facilitate small group discussions among its target audience - sixth-graders.
CDFY will also establish a brand new program, AlcoholEdu, in Osage County high schools at Linn, Fatima and Chamois. EverFi, an organization based in Washington, D.C., created the online educational tool originally for college students, but by that time, they were too late, Sweeney said.
Tenth-grade students in Osage County will participate in the 10-week online program that combines interactive digital media with evidence-based prevention techniques. The system is individualized to the students - from alcohol abstainers to heavy drinkers.
Each student goes on his or her own "adaptive pathway" beginning to end, showing him or her how to be healthy. That could be anything from reducing high-risk drinking to maintaining an alcohol-free lifestyle. Lessons include teaching students characteristics of a drink, the impact alcohol has on the brain and how to calculate blood alcohol level.
Sweeney said she's working on bringing AlcoholEdu to Jefferson City, Helias and Calvary Lutheran high schools.
The anti-drug and -alcohol push in Osage County is community-based.
Linn resident Charlotte Bellsmith volunteers with Osage Caring Projects, an organization that assists families in need. She participates in monthly System of Care meetings along with Missouri Department of Mental Health representatives, law enforcement and others to address the needs of families.
In a meeting, someone discussed the heroin epidemic and the potential spread of the highly-addictive drug in the county. The information sparked Bellsmith and other Osage County residents into forming the Osage County Anti-Drug Community Action Team, of which she is the president.
"The word, 'heroin' sent us into action," she said.
At its inception, the group held a town hall meeting. There, they heard from grandparents, aunts and uncles raising children for relatives addicted to drugs. Parents talked about turning away from their children who fell into addiction.
Meth is the drug of choice in Osage County, Bellsmith said, and teenagers hold alcohol-ridden parties in wide, open fields.
The community action team is leaning on CDFY for guidance as it continues to grow its outreach.
"We decided that you can't save children by sitting back and doing nothing, so let's start with kindergartners. And by the time they graduate from high school, they will have 12 years of education on making good decisions," Bellsmith said. "They can use that throughout their lives. You can't lose with education."