Students for Success Program

In the summer of 2004, Students for Success partnered with the Lapwai School District, Kamiah School District, Clearwater Valley Schools (K-12), and Nez Perce Childhood Development to submit a ASafe Schools/Healthy Students@ application to the Department of Education (DOE), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and Department of Justice (DOJ).  These partners were selected since they could meet the grant announcements requirement of having a previous working relationship six months prior to the grant application. In Orofino, prevention activities will be offered through the Orofino community center. 

On October 1, 2004, the Lapwai School District, required lead Local Educational Agency (LEA), received official notice that our grant application was selected for funding for three years, October 1, 2004, to September 30, 2007. 

The grant was highly competitive.  Over 300 applicants throughout the United States were reviewed.  This is the first grant of its kind to ever be awarded to a recipient in the state of Idaho.  As one of 24 new grantees that are receiving a total pf $38 million in grant funds this year, the Consortium will join 166 existing recipients across the United States that have received SS/HS grants over the past five years. 

The purpose of the grant is to implement enhanced, coordinated, comprehensive plans of activities, and programs and services that focus on promoting healthy childhood development and preventing violence and alcohol/drug abuse, both at school and within the community.   

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students  Initiative has six main elements:

• Safe school environment

• Violence, alcohol, and other drug prevention and early intervention

•  School and community mental health preventative and treatment intervention services

• Early childhood psychosocial and emotional development

• Supporting and connecting schools and communities

• Safe school policies

The grant also required securing support from other law enforcement, juvenile justice, and public health mental health agencies in our area.  Through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the following agencies have agreed to support the grant through collaborative efforts: Region II Department of Health & Welfare, Nez Perce County Juvenile Justice, Nez Perce Tribe Juvenile Justice, Nez Perce Tribal Law Enforcement, and the Sheriff=s Departments of Nez Perce County, Lewis County, and Idaho County.

These representatives will maintain monthly Safe Schools/Healthy Students Partnership meetings at each school to discuss coordination and support in the areas of substance abuse and violence prevention and healthy childhood development.

Each of the school districts have specific needs that address these six elements within their community.  Once needs were identified, strategies and programs, based on Best Practices Models, have been developed to be put into place that will foster safe school environments and promote healthy youth development.  Programs, such as Second Step, Project SUCCESS, LifeSkills, and Guiding Good Choices are a few Best Practice programs that will be used to assist these districts and communities.

The grant also focuses on youth emotional and behavioral health by funding a mental health counselor position in the schools.  The counselor will work with a Student Assistance Team and link students to community-based providers.

Students for Success also administers the State of Idaho tribal tobacco prevention contract on behalf of the A Nez Perce Tobacco Prevention Coalition,@ which consists of our program and Nimiipuu Health Community Health programs. 

The goals of the state tobacco contract are:

• Increase community capacity to address harmful effects of non-ceremonial tobacco use

• Increase awareness of risk factors for lung cancer

•  Reduce the percentage of adult current tobacco users

• Reduce the percentage of youth under 18 who have ever tried tobacco products

• Increase availability and awareness of tobacco cessation services

• Increase awareness of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS)

Students for Success received a three-year grant for Nez Perce Cultural Camp from the Indian Health Service A Children and Youth Initiative Grant Program for American Indians and Alaska Natives.@  The first year of funding supported the 2004 camp.

The goal of this grant is:

• To prevent, reduce, and delay onset of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) use for Native American youth, age 9-18 (through cultural interventions).

In July 2004, we were awarded two mini grants from Benchmark Research & Safety, Inc., for individual, family, and community strategies for prevention substance abuse.  Both grants use ABest Practice@ prevention models.

With the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grant, we will be moving more toward standardized curriculums that target substance abuse and violence prevention.  Some of the classes are targeted at children and teenagers while some are specific for parents.  This is shown to be a Abest practice@ recommendation that affects more change on attitudes and use of alcohol than anything.  Classes will be taught by our Prevention Specialists.

We also have Case Managers who will work with the school=s Student Assistance Team to link youth in need to services in the community and provide outreach and advocacy as needed.

We coordinate the Community CARE Team (CCT) in Kamiah and Lapwai.  The mission of the CCT is to Ameet the need of cooperation and support between organizations to address youth and community substance abuse problems and related safety, health, education, and social issues.@  In January 2006, we started a projected called ACommunities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol.@  It addresses underage drinking by looking at community norms and social policy that make alcohol more accessible to this group.

Through the state tobacco grant we work with the Nez Perce Tribe Tobacco Prevention Coalition to plan prevention activities for the community focused on youth and adult cessation and non-use of tobacco and exposure to second-hand smoke or Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS).

Through the Benchmark grant, we are doing two initiatives.  One is the CMCA through CCT (described above).  The second grant will offer on AParent University@ classes to target awareness and skill building for parents and guardians to help their children reduce or prevent substance abuse.  The main curriculum that will be used is AGuiding Good Choices.@  It is a five-week course that will be offered in Kamiah, Lapwai, and Orofino .