News of the Nature Coast of Florida

CLEARWATER - Eckerd Youth Alternatives announced today that they have been awarded $120,000 each year for the next three years to implement a new Hi-Five Program in Citrus County to address underage drinking and substance use among middle school youths.

The award was made by the Florida Department of Children and Families/ Office of Substance Abuse Prevention through the 2009 Prevention Partnership Grant Program.

The Citrus Hi-Five Program is a partnership between Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Partners for a Substance-Free Citrus, Lecanto Middle School and Inverness Middle School, and will focus on addressing underage drinking and substance use through the provision of evidence-based substance abuse prevention curricula “Too Good for Drugs” and “Too Good for Dugs and Violence.”

Designed to target all sixth-grade students at Lecanto and Inverness Middle schools, the Citrus Hi-Five Program will deliver weekly classroom-based curriculum called “Too Good for Drugs” to an estimated 600 students in these two schools combined. In addition, students at greatest risk of underage drinking and other drug use will be selected to participate in smaller, more intensive group interventions utilizing the “Too Good for Drugs and Violence” curriculum.

The program will also work to increase parental awareness of the use/ abuse of alcohol and other drugs by underage youths through the coordination and delivery of family workshops.

In addition, Citrus Hi-Five will work with the Partners for a Substance-Free Citrus to implement a proven social marketing plan called “Be the Wall,” which provides positive messaging to youths for abstaining from alcohol and other drugs. The objective is to increase knowledge among youths of the dangers of alcohol and other drug abuse, and to reframe a positive social norm of abstinence from substances utilizing a universal social marketing strategy.

Founded by philanthropists Jack and Ruth Eckerd more than 40 years ago, Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Inc. (EYA) is one of the nation’s leading providers of services for troubled youth. As a private not-for-profit organization, EYA serves nearly 12,000 children each year.

Celebrating their 100,000th youth served this year, EYA has been giving young people the opportunity to succeed since 1968 through nearly 40 programs in nine states: Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Louisiana. To learn more, call 1-800-554-HELP (4357) or visit our web site at www.eckerd.org.