Big River United Way Spotlight: Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services

For the Daily Gate city

ADDS Prevention Specialist Candice Murrell-Cannon serves all of Lee County.

With the assistance of the Big River United Way and the IDPH Compre-hensive Grant, I am able to provide prevention education to students and community members, Cannon said. Currently I am in the Keokuk Middle School and Central Lee Middle School teaching Project Alert.

ADDS Prevention Programs remain a primary resource for providing Keokuk and the surrounding communities with drug-free information and prevention education services.

The Project Alert curriculum is on the Model Program list from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Department of Substance Abuse Prevention, and National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices.

This program has been heavily researched and reviewed many times for effectiveness to continue on the Model Program list, Cannon said.

Some of the program endorsements include the U. S. Department of Education, the Department of Juvenile Justice, American Medical Association and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse. ADDS Prevention Programs remain a primary resource for providing the Keokuk and surrounding communities with drug-free information and prevention education services.

This funding for the prevention department at ADDS from the Big River United Way assists us in delivering programs to reduce the usage of controlled substances in youth/children, Cannon said.

Research based substance abuse curriculums in the schools have been shown to delay the age of onset of first use of substances, increase the perception of risks involved with using substances, decrease use in last 30 days, and change behaviors and attitudes towards using substances.

As a direct result of receiving prevention education, youth will have greater opportunity to grow up with a healthier lifestyle and increase their likelihood to avoid drugs, alcohol and other dangerous substances, which is a community outcome set by the United Way, according to Cannon.

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Big River United Way Spotlight: Alcohol and Drug Dependency Services