PREVENTION RESOURCES - RELATED LINKS

The links below will help you identify science-based, nationally recognized, alcohol-focused programs; locate Federal and non-governmental alcohol use prevention programs; and investigate issues of special interest, such as alcoholism or addiction. Many sites also allow you to order resource materials, download publications, and search databases of articles and events.

Federal Agencies

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) funds more than 90 percent of the alcohol abuse and addiction (alcoholism) research in the United States through research grants and large alcohol research centers. These are additional NIAAA resources:

NIAAA created an Initiative on Underage Drinking, as a response to the convergence of recent scientific advances and the increased public concern about the seriousness of this social problem. The Initiative's Web site contains important new research on underage drinking; the most current national statistics; links to other federal government underage drinking prevention resources and updates on the Steering Committee for the initiative.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)'s Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database page links to databases, journals and Web sites focused on alcohol use and related topics. This includes the archived ETOH database, (articles from 1972-2003), the most comprehensive online resource covering all aspects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

NIAAA’s journal, Alcohol Research & Health, Alcohol and Development in Youth: A Multidisciplinary Overview, contains a comprehensive summary of recent scientific findings on underage drinking.

NIAAA's site, CollegeDrinkingPrevention.gov is an online resource center for changing the drinking culture on college campuses. The site's content is based on a series of reports published by the Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In addition to the Task Force reports, the site includes frequently asked questions on alcohol abuse, college and university alcohol policies, and a special section for students.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is responsible for improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services for persons suffering from substance abuse problems or mental illness.

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) is the prevention arm of SAMHSA. It supports the development of prevention policies and systems, facilitates dissemination of new information, and encourages application of that knowledge to prevent substance abuse. CSAP funds the following prevention resources:

• Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPTs) assist States, jurisdictions, and community-based organizations in the application of the latest research-based knowledge to their substance abuse prevention programs, practices, and policies.
  
  
• A Family Guide To Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy Drug Free offers adults who influence the lives of children ages 7 to 18—including parents, foster parents, grandparents, extended family members, guardians, and mentors—suggestions for better communication with children, as well as other tips that aid in prevention.
• Too Smart to Start, sponsored by SAMHSA is an underage alcohol use prevention initiative for parents and caregivers of 9-to-13 year-olds as they teach their children about the harms of alcohol, and participate in their activities.
  
• National Clearinghouse for Drug and Alcohol Information (NCADI) is the world's largest resource for current information and materials about alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. It distributes a variety of prevention and treatment resources for use by parents, teachers, youth, and communications and health professionals, mostly free of charge. NCADI's Web site PREVLINE is a comprehensive resource providing online publications, statistics, fact sheets, daily news updates, funding information, an on-line treatment directory, and a calendar of events. The site also maintains a number of searchable bibliographic databases on substance abuse research. .
  
  
• The Regional Alcohol and Drug Awareness Resource (RADAR) Network makes current prevention information readily available to prevention practitioners at the State and community levels. The network consists of State clearinghouses; prevention resource centers; Department of Education Regional Training Centers; and national, international, and local organizations supporting substance abuse prevention activities. The centers fall into three broad categories: State, Specialty, and Associate Centers, and these can be located via the RADAR Web site.
  
  Hablemos en Confianza: Your Fountain of Resources is a bilingual public health Web site which offers advice for Hispanic/Latino parents on listening and talking with children to improve communication, to discover parenting style, and to learn about alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs.
• SAMHSA'S Prevention Platform is an online resource for substance abuse prevention. It includes procedures for doing needs-assessments, building capacity, selecting best and promising interventions, implementing plans, and conducting evaluations.
  

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is the treatment arm of SAMHSA. CSAT works with treatment providers to develop and implement policies and programs to improve treatment services for adults and adolescents who abuse alcohol and other drugs. This includes developing Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) that provide guidelines for the treatment of adolescents with substance use disorders.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) sponsors the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center that helps States enforce the laws prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages to minors. The center provides training, technical assistance, and resource materials.

Start Talking Before They Start Drinking, is a prevention campaign developed by 8 Federal departments to provide accurate information and resources for parents, educators, community-based organizations, and other adults interested in underage drinking prevention. The Web site http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/, serves as a portal to Federal resources.

The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools is responsible for prevention and education activities aimed at reducing violence and underage drug, alcohol, and tobacco use in the Nation's schools.

 

Effective Prevention Programs

America's Partners to Prevent Underage Drinking (AP) is a national coalition formed of individuals and organizations committed to curbing underage drinking through education, technology and policy initiatives. AP's Web site, beawarenow.org, provides State and research resources including: facts by State and news stories by State; information on Congressional legislation; a Media Room; and Studies. (America's Partners is led by The International Institute of Alcohol Awareness, a project of Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation)

 

Communities that Care® (CTC) is a planning system that provides training and consulting services delivered by experienced professionals to help communities develop an integrated approach to the positive development of children and youth and the prevention of problem behaviors, including substance abuse, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school dropout, and violence. Mrs. Michele Ridge, former First Lady of Pennsylvania, is has been a national spokesperson for CTC. (Channing Bete Company)

SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) is a searchable database of interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders. It incorporates the SAMHSA Model Programs. These programs have been tested in communities and schools across America, and have been proven to prevent or decrease substance abuse and other high-risk behaviors. The following focus on adolescent behavior, and the prevention of underage drinking.

• All Stars is a program that prevents high-risk behaviors through the development of positive personal characteristics in young adolescents, ages 10 to 14. All Stars uses interactive methods to discuss values, ideals, norms, and personal commitments, involving parents through homework assignments and an audio CD to improve their parenting skills. Teachers and community leaders are trained in mastering All Stars interactive teaching skills and underlying program concepts. (Tanglewood Research, Inc.)
  
• Border Binge Drinking Reduction Program is a multi-pronged, community based prevention project designed to reduce public health and safety problems associated with cross-border underage and high-risk drinking between the cities of San Diego and Tijuana. The program targets teenagers younger than 18 years (who cannot legally enter Mexico without an adult family member) and older youth ages 18-25. (Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation and Institute for Public Strategies)
  
  
• Challenging College Alcohol Abuse (PDF) uses social norms and environmental management strategies to prevent alcohol abuse among college-aged students. The program's primary target population consisted of all University of Arizona (UA) students. The three prevention arms of Challenging the Collegiate Rite of Passage are: (1) Social Norms Media Marketing Campaign, (2) Environmental Management, and (3) Moderation Skills Training. (University of Arizona)
  
  
• Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (PDF) (CMCA) is a community-organizing program designed to reduce adolescent and teenage (age 13 to 20) access to alcohol by changing community policies and practices. (Alcohol Epidemiology Program, Community Health Education, University of Minnesota)
• Community Trials to Reduce High-Risk Drinking (PDF) (RHRD) is a multicomponent, community-based program developed to alter the alcohol use patterns of people of all ages (e.g., drinking and driving, underage drinking, acute binge drinking), and related problems. (Prevention Research Center)
• Keepin' It REAL (refuse, explain, avoid, leave) is a culturally grounded, prevention intervention targeting substance use among urban middle-school children. The curriculum consists of 10 lessons and four videos, developed by and for children, promoting anti-drug norms and teaching resistance and other social skills, reinforced by booster activity and a media campaign. There are three versions based on population targeted: a Mexican-American-centered version; a Non-Latino version; and a Multicultural version (developed by incorporating five lessons each from the first two versions). (Arizona State University)
  
• Project ALERT is a prevention program designed to motivate middle school children against drug use and help them acquire the skills they need to resist pro-drug pressures. The program uses participatory activities and videos to help students establish non-drug norms and develop reasons not to use and to resist pro-drug pressures. Guided classroom discussions and small group activities stimulate peer interaction and challenge students, while intensive role-playing encourages students to practice and master resistance skills. Parent-involved homework assignments extend the learning process.
  
• Project Northland is a community-based alcohol use prevention program for students in grades six through eight. The components of the project include curricula implementation in schools; parent participation in alcohol education activities; participation of students in peer-planned, alcohol-free activities outside of school; and media activities to promote the program. (Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota)
  
• Protecting You/Protecting Me is a 5-year, science-based alcohol use prevention curriculum for grades 1 through 5. (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
  
  
• Start Taking Alcohol Risks Seriously (STARS) for Families is a health promotion program for preventing alcohol use among at-risk middle and junior high school youth (11 to 14 years old). The goal of STARS for Families is to have all youth postpone alcohol use until adulthood. (Center for Drug Prevention and Health Promotion, College of Health, University of North Florida)

Selected Web Sites

Adolescent Directory Online, Center for Adolescent Studies, Indiana University is an electronic guide to information on adolescent issues; it provides resources for parents, educators, researchers, health practitioners, and teens.

The Alcohol and Other Drugs Web page contains links to organizations and government agencies that provide guidance on the prevention and treatment of substance abuse and addiction.

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI) is a research center located at the University of Washington. The ADAI Web site's comprehensive Web Links section includes an extensive list of journals, government agencies, research centers, and other related organizations.

 

The American Bar Association, Standing Committee on Substance Abuse has worked to integrate substance abuse treatment and prevention into justice system, workplace, and social services programs since 1990.

The Center of Alcohol Studies is a multidisciplinary institute at Rutgers University that collects and disseminates information on alcohol use and its consequences.

The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth. The Center is supported by grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) provides resources and training to community coalitions. CADCA has developed a "Greenhouse Program" to improve the effectiveness of new and ongoing community coalitions. The Greenhouse training initiative will help local groups develop effective anti-drug coalitions by giving up to 30 communities with newly developing coalitions (maximum one year since inception) an opportunity to explore and learn what makes community coalitions successful in achieving measurable results.

Drug Prevention and Youth Safety Resources (Smith Initiatives for Prevention and Education, University of Arizona) describes broad principles to guide the selection of prevention programs that can be adapted for alcohol use prevention curricula in schools.

Drug Strategies is a non-profit research institute that promotes effective approaches to the Nation's drug problems and supports private and public initiatives that reduce the demands for drugs through prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.

FACE: Truth and Clarity About Alcohol focuses specifically on alcohol. Of particular interest is their training module on building community support to reduce underage access to alcohol.

The Hazelden Foundation is a non-profit organization providing rehabilitation, education, prevention, professional services, and publications on chemical dependency and related disorders, including addiction.

Indiana Prevention Resource Center has a Web site encompassing both State-specific and national information, including statistics, publications, prevention information, and grant information.

Join Together Online is a community resource summarizing current issues in the fields of substance abuse prevention and treatment, and violence reduction.

AlcoholScreening.org, a free service of Join Together, provides a self-test to help individuals assess their drinking; it also includes information on alcohol and health issues and resources for additional help.

LaAntiDroga.com: This Spanish-language Web site provides Hispanic parents and other adult caregivers with strategies and tips on raising healthy drug-free children.

The MayoClinic.com: Alcohol and your Health Web site provides facts on the risks of alcohol to your health.

The Mental Health Information Network (MHIN)Web site provides access to quality-filtered mental and physical health information to health professionals, consumers, students and others. The MHIN, a collaboration between Boston University Alumni Medical Library and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, is funded by the National Library of Medicine.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has a mission to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime, and prevent underage drinking.

National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) is a non-profit membership and affiliate organization working on behalf of children of alcoholics.

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) affiliates provide information and referrals to local counseling and treatment services. The affiliates also conduct community prevention and education programs.

National Family Partnership (NFP) supports the Nation's families and communities in realizing the full potential of healthy, drug-free youth.

National Issues Forums are local public deliberations through which citizens can share perspectives, confront issues, and shape public opinion.

The National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention is dedicated to reducing the harm caused by alcohol and tobacco in the Latino community through research, advocacy, policy analysis, community education, training and information dissemination.

National Prevention Network (NPN), an organization of State alcohol and other drug abuse prevention representatives and a component of the National Association of State Alcohol/Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), provides a national advocacy and communication system for prevention.

Recovery is everywhere, is a public education initiative. The Web site offers resources and free materials to United States and international organizations.

Resource Link: Research in Action, a Prevention Research Center's (PRC’s) Web site, provides information and practical guidance to state and community agencies and organizations, policy makers, and members of the general public who are interested in combating alcohol and other drug abuse and misuse.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) is a peer leadership organization that provides students with prevention and intervention tools about the issues of underage drinking, drug abuse, and other destructive decisions.

Topics in Alcohol Research provides resources for information about alcohol, and also serves as the homepage of Dr. Aaron White, an alcohol researcher at Duke University Medical Center. Topics include research on alcohol and teenage brain development, college drinking; and resources such as Web sites, fact sheets, and trainings and workshops.

Web of Addictions is an easy-to-navigate Web site that provides links to resources on alcohol and other drugs, fact sheets, a meetings list, a special topics section, and other links.

Resources for Specific Audiences

For resources tailored for specific groups, such as alcohol retailers, concerned citizens, health care providers, law enforcement, parents, prevention practitioners, and youth, please link directly to those pages. For State-specific resources, go to the State Map, click on the appropriate State, and go to the links to State Agencies and Programs and Chapters of National Organizations.