Prestigious SAMHSA Awards Given to Organizations Using Botvin LifeSkills Training

PR Log (Press Release) – Nov 21, 2008 – WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the winners of its prestigious 2008 Science and Service Awards.  This is the second year of the award, which was created to recognize exemplary implementation of evidence-based prevention programs by community organizations and coalitions nationwide.

Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is an integral component of multiple recipients in the Substance Abuse Prevention category. New York’s Broome County Mental Health Department and Ohio’s Wood County Educational Service Center have been implementing LifeSkills Training (LST) to prevent substance abuse and promote healthy choices among their youth.  “These award winners are blazing the trail to show how it can be done,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H.  

The Broome County Mental Health Department created the Keeping Youth Drug-free and Safe (KYDS) Coalition to develop and provide evidence-based substance abuse prevention programs.  A comprehensive assessment of the community’s needs led them to select Botvin LifeSkills Training to provide a comprehensive youth prevention program.  Evaluation results show that students enrolled in the LifeSkills Training program demonstrate improvement in multiple key areas.  Furthermore, LST students show a reduction in 22 out of 23 risk factors and an increase in 9 out of 10 protective factors. The Coalition’s success has led it to expand its services to eight school districts and two alternative schools in the county.

The Wood County Educational Service Center (WCESC) uses Botvin LifeSkills Training as part of their multiple-systems approach to preventing substance abuse in the county’s youth. Since WCESC began offering the LifeSkills Training curriculum, more than 10,000 students in Wood County have received the program.  Comprehensive tests of students both before and after receiving the program show that LST students hold more realistic views of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, have increased their knowledge about the decision-making process related to substance use, and are more likely to decline substances offered to them than do youth in grades 7 through 12 who did not receive the program.  

About Botvin LifeSkills Training
Botvin LifeSkills Training is a highly effective and well-respected evidence-based substance abuse and violence prevention program with more than 25 years of peer-reviewed research behind it. The program was developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, professor of Public Health and Psychiatry at Cornell University's Weill Medical College and director of Cornell's Institute for Prevention Research. He is also president of National Health Promotion Associates, which promotes evidence-based prevention and provides teacher training and technical assistance. Dr. Botvin is the former president of the Society for Prevention Research and editor-in-chief of Prevention Science. LifeSkills Training has been cited for excellence by numerous organizations, including the U.S. Department of Education, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (part of the U.S. Department of Justice). Studies testing its effectiveness have found that the Botvin LifeSkills Training program can reduce the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use by as much as 80 percent. Visit www.lifeskillstraining.com for more information.

About Princeton Health Press
Princeton Health Press (PHP) is a health education publishing company located in White Plains, NY.  PHP publishes the highly acclaimed Botvin LifeSkills Training series, as well as many other titles for use in schools, communities, and families that promote health and personal development.  

Media Contact:
Paulina Kalaj
(914) 220-9431
pkalaj@nhpamail.com