Program:
SADD National Awareness Program
- Budget:
-
$1,305,002
- Category:
-
Youth Development, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
-
Adults
-
Other Named Groups
Program Description:
For 31 years, SADD has empowered young people to lead education and prevention iniatives in their schools and communities. Young people building vital connections with their peers are the strongest force in prevention. Through education, advocacy, and activism, hundreds of thousands of America's youth have endorsed this idea, promoting good decision-making, choosing healthy lifestyles, and keeping their peers safe. SADD supports the growth and development of chapters primarily in middle and high schools across the country through prevention programming and peer leadership training and promotes awareness of youth health and safety issues to the general public. SADD participates in regional and national forums and coalitions focused on issues related to its mission: underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, teen violence and suicide, and other destructive decisions. SADD also supports a network of state coordinators funded through government or charitable organizations to help deliver quality education and prevention materials and programming.
Independent studies have shown that students in schools with an established SADD chapter are more aware of and informed about the risks of underage drinking, other drug use, and impaired driving. Students in schools with a SADD chapter are also more likely to hold attitudes reflecting positive reasons not to use alcohol.
Beyond the amazing statistics representing a culture change to the issue of impaired driving, SADD has contributed to the development of a powerful and proud personal identity for hundreds of thousands of teenagers. SADD chapters have been those places in schools where teenagers have stood up and spoken out for a safe and healthy future for themselves and their friends. Yesterday's SADD students are today's civic and business leaders, continuing to assert their individuality and purse their goal of making their families and communities safer, stronger, and healthier.
Program Long-Term Success:
Since 1981, SADD has grown to become the leading youth-based prevention, education, and activism organization in the country. SADD has a registered network of nearly 10,000 SADD chapters with approximately 350,000 to 500,000 participating youth and more than 10,000 adult advisors. This represents approximately seven million youth in U.S. schools where SADD chapters exist. SADD has left a tangible mark on American society. Since our founding, teenage deaths due to drinking and driving have decreased by 60 percent. Beyond the amazing statistics representing a culture change on the issue of impaired driving, SADD has contributed to the development of a powerful and proud personal identity for hundreds of thousands of teenagers. SADD chapters have been those places in schools and communities where teenagers have stood up and spoken out for a safe and healthy future for themselves and their friends. As an active, established youth prevention program, SADD reaches into more schools and touches more young people for longer periods of time than does any other program. We are committed to delivering quality prevention education programming and continuously enhancing our ability to effectively reach young people, their families, and other caring adults.
Program Short-Term Success:
Every year, established SADD chapters re-register with the National office of SADD and new SADD chapters register for the first time, benefiting from the array of free tools, services, and resources that SADD, Inc. can offer. SADD distributes two electronic newsletters and communicates directly with youth through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, and YouTube; hosts a website which averages 59,200 visitors monthly; regularly releases to media outlets opinion-editorials and articles on pertinent youth-oriented topics; conducts and reports on national research on teen attitudes and behaviors; runs a four-day national youth leadership conference annually; sponsors a National Student Leadership Council and Student of the Year, providing members with four peer leadership training retreats; hosts a SADD Speaker Series of motivational presentations highlighting original SADD research and practical solutions to difficult issues; and most importantly, raises funds for the development and dissemination of information and programming.
According to national research, 86 percent of teens and 95 percent of parents who are aware of SADD think SADD plays a positive role in influencing the choices teens make.
Program Success Monitored by:
SADD monitors progress of key campaign activities through evaluations submitted by SADD advisors from throughout the country, providing information and trainings on science-based prevention programming, and sharing "best practices" to encourage SADD chapters to replicate effective programming and awareness activities that have proven successful elsewhere.
SADD's underage drinking prevention program, "Mobilizing the Community: Youth Taking the Lead," employes strategies over an academic year working with students, parents, community members, and the media. SADD conducts baseline and post-campaign assessments of both student and parent message exposure and outcomes in order to assess changes in attitudes and behaviors around underage drinking use associated with exposure to this SADD program. Students complete self-administered surveys in a classroom or group setting during the school day. Questionnaires include scales that request they report their attitudes and behaviors around drinking. These measures assess current, lifetime, and binge drinking as well as riding in the car with an intoxicated driver. Parents respond to online surveys. Students and parents are asked to answer questions about their exposure to campaign messages and perception of the campaign; youth, community, and school-wide norms related to alcohol use; drinking outcome expectancies; drinking as something that might interrupt life goals; sensation-seeking tendencies; and parent rules and communication about alcohol. SADD staff coordinates with school officials to discuss current policy and enforcement strategies employed to reduce underage drinking.
Nominated in 2012 by the MA Department of Public Health for participation as a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) "Service to Science" model program, a national initiative for locally-developed and innovative prevention programs interested in demonstrating more credible evidence of effectiveness.
Program Success Examples:
Bridget R. of ND shares, "SADD's impact goes far beyond teaching students to make healthy, positive choices. It taught me how to have a voice, gave me the confidence to stand up for what I believe in, and nurtured the skills, beliefs, and traits that are shaping my future."
"Since my freshman year of high school, I always think of SADD as providing me opportunity in so many aspects of my life - the opportunity to stand for my beliefs, to explore beyond Kansas, to appreciate uniqueness, and to know a dynamic network of genuine people willing to challenge and support me," shares Stephen W. KS.
Evelyn S. from NJ shares, "Going to the SADD National Conference is one of the best experiences of my life. I have learned so many different things from the detailed workshops provided. After my first conference, I came back home pumped and ready to make my SADD chapter as great as it could be. I was filled with new ideas and excited to succeed."
Program:
State Awareness Program
- Budget:
-
$156,009
- Category:
-
Youth Development, General/Other
- Population Served:
-
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
-
Adults
-
Other Named Groups
Program Description:
SADD implements a research-based prevention education program in targeted communities in the Commonwealth that engages youth and influential adults in preventing underage drinking. This campaign challenges several deeply-held beliefs: that most teens are drinking alcohol; that there are no real negative consequences when teens drink; that teens don't face any peer pressure to drink; and that drinking is a "rite of passage" for teens as they approach adulthood. This innovative, multi-component campaign also involves parents, school administrators, law enforcement, and the local media as it helps youth and adults challenge these common beliefs and assists community leaders to clarify and enforce policies that deter youth drinking. The National office of SADD also houses the Massachusetts SADD program which conducts a full range of programming and youth leadership development training with more than 300 SADD chapters in schools across the Commonwealth.
Program Long-Term Success:
The MA Department of Public Health nominated this youth-focused, research-based underage drinking prevention program, "Mobilizing the Community: Youth Taking the Lead," for consideration as a "Service to Science" program. A national initiative sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and its Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT), Service to Science is for locally-developed and innovative prevention programs interested in demonstrating more credible evidence of effectiveness. SADD conducts baseline and post-campaign assessments of both student and parent message exposure and outcomes in order to assess changes in attitudes and behaviors around underage drinking use. Post evaluation, it is anticipated that a national campaign model will emerge from this local pilot implemented in targeted communities in the Commonwealth. SADD will then roll out this program through its chapter network nationwide.
Program Short-Term Success:
Students complete self-administered surveys in classrooms during the school day. Questionnaires include scales that request they report their attitudes and behaviors about drinking. These measures assess current, lifetime, and binge drinking as well as perceptions of others' behaviors around underage drinking. Parents respond to online surveys. Students and parents in the target communities have been highly engaged in this process. They are asked to answer questions about their exposure to campaign messages and perceptions of the campaign; youth, community, and school-wide norms related to alcohol use; drinking outcome expectancies; drinking as something that might interrupt life goals; sensation-seeking tendencies; and parent rules and communication about alcohol. SADD staff coordinates with school officials to discuss current policy and enforcement strategies employed to reduce underage drinking. All data is to be compiled, analyzed, and prepared for an executive summary.
Program Success Monitored by:
SADD has obtained preliminary evidence of positive impact on outcomes related to youth drinking in this pilot and a second round of implementation in targeted schools in the Commonwealth. Program improvements and refinements were made throughout the implementation periods to incorporate findings from the process evaluation. The evaluation validated measures and survey instruments for youth and parents that can be used for future research. With additional support, SADD plans to contract an evaluator to make key recommendations for further developing this program, refining the program logic model and evaluation plan, and targeting possible funding mechanisms and research staff to conduct a formal evaluation.
As mentioned, the MA DPH has already nominated this underage drinking prevention program for a SAMHSA "Service to Science" initiative that evaluates and recognizes proven effective programming.
Program Success Examples:
This underage drinking prevention program is designed to help youth and adults challenge common beliefs about underage drinking and to assist community leaders to clarify and enforce policies that deter youth drinking.
Although results will be available post evaluation, our primary funder has already seen fit to nominate this campaign to be considered as a national program model showing credible evidence of effectiveness.