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EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
PRESENTATIONS
BREAKOUT
SESSIONS
CONCLUSION
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Public Information
and Education
Public Information
and Education are major components and provide a link between the child,
the parent, and the community. Emphasis should be placed on refocusing
and re-educating people in the area of alcohol, drugs, and driving, particularly
among young people. The use of focus groups would be one way to ensure
that the correct message, in proper format, is being presented. Educational
programs also should include information on any associated enforcement
campaigns being conducted.
The following suggestions
were made:
- Develop a manual
on how to obtain community support and build coalitions. (These manuals
are currently being developed by the National Association of Governors'
Highway Safety Representatives-available February 2001)
- Develop packages
that contain sample legislation regarding underage drinking, per
se laws, testing thresholds and recidivism information.
- Develop a booklet
"Strategies for Success," which would provide an overview of successful
programs from around the country. (Such a booklet has been developed,
entitled Strategies for Success: Combating Juvenile DUI; DOT
HS 808 845).
- Develop a manual
on how to conduct Sobriety Checkpoints. (Such a book has been developed
entitled Saturation Patrols and Sobriety Checkpoints-A How To Guide;
DOT HS 809 063).
- Develop a manual
on how to conduct victim impact panels. Victim impact panels seek to
humanize the results of alcohol-related crashes by having an actual
victim of an alcohol-related crash speak to DWI offenders and occasionally
to groups of students. Afterwards, participants are given the opportunity
to ask the victim questions. (MADD is developing a manual explaining
how to conduct youth victim impact panels-www.madd.org).
- Develop a manual
on how to implement "Hospital Awareness Programs." These programs require
teens, arrested for impaired driving, to go to the hospital, view impaired
driving-related injuries and speak with hospital personnel. (The Corrective
Behavior Institute, San Diego, CA, is developing a similar program and
they can be contacted at 619-528-9001). Participants felt this program
could be mandated as part of a teen's probation.
- Develop a manual
on how to establish a "Teen-to-Teen" program. Here, a teen convicted
of an impaired driving offense visits schools and speaks to the students
about what happened when they drank and drove. They often share with
other students what it is like to be "in the system." Participants felt
this also may be a good setting to use the "Fatal Vision Goggles," and
felt the program could be mandated as part of a teen's probation.
- Educate parents
on the problems of underage drinking and strategies for their involvement.
Include emphasis on the seriousness of the problem and long-term consequences.
- Educate care givers
and education professionals on how to identify the impaired student
who has an alcohol or drug problem. The sooner such students can be
identified, the sooner they can receive treatment. The IACP/NHTSA course
Drug Impairment Training for Education Professionals (DITEP)
provides school nurses, teachers, and administrators with training,
which allows them to identify impaired students. Law enforcement agencies
should consider including this program with their community policing
efforts.
- Develop an information
card for parents on what resources are available in the area of drug
testing (including hair testing) and treatment.
- Continue programs
such as Drug Awareness Resistence Education (DARE) and Community Oriented
Policing Services (COPS), but expand the officer's interaction to include
the higher grades.
- Increase community
activities, which keep kids busy, off the streets and away from gangs.
- Provide site visits
for kids to the morgue so they can see first hand the consequences of
drinking and driving or of drug overdoses. This can work as a preventive
program or can be mandated as part of the probation process.
- Develop a video
that could be shown to parents, illustrating problems associated with
hosting an underage drinking party. (Clarkstown Police Department in
Rockland County, New York, has developed such a video which could serve
as a basis for this model).
- Increase
the use of celebrity spokespersons on posters and billboards with anti-drug
and alcohol messages.
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