The program is advertised as free to U.S. schools. Materials can be accessed after completing a registration and brief survey. Visit the CATCH My Breath website for more information.
The Drug Enforcement Administration announced the release of the updated edition of Growing Up Drug Free: A Parent’s Guide to Substance Use Prevention, a publication jointly produced by DEA and the U.S. Department of Education. The guide includes:
- An overview of substance use among children, youth, and young adults
- Descriptions of some substances young people may use
- A look at risk factors and protective factors that help offset those risks
- Suggestions for how to talk to young people about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
You can find this fact sheet and more about underage drinking on SAMHSA's publications and digital products webpage.
Why use this tool?
- It can detect risk early: In contrast to other screens that focus on established alcohol problems, this early detection tool aims to help you prevent alcohol-related problems in your patients before they start or address them at an early stage.
- It’s empirically based: The screening questions and risk scale, developed through primary survey research, are powerful predictors of current and future negative consequences of alcohol use.
- It’s fast and versatile: The screen consists of just two questions, which can be incorporated easily into patient interviews or pre-visit screening tools across the care spectrum, from annual exams to urgent care.
- It’s the first tool to include friends’ drinking: The “friends” question will help you identify patients at earlier stages of alcohol involvement and target advice to include the important risk of friends’ drinking.
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Watch Live Coverage - TVW (https://tvw.org)
See unedited coverage of committee hearings, testimony, floor debate, press conferences, and much more. Search the archive for recorded events or tune in live!
Bill Information (https://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/)
Search by bill number, or list bills by many other methods from links. The bottom of each bill page has links to TVW video of hearings and floor action. See the Bill Report for a useful high-level summary of the bill policy, background, and hearing testimony.
Current Laws (RCWs) and Rules (WACs) (https://leg.wa.gov/LawsAndAgencyRules/Pages/default.aspx)
Find RCWs or WAC by number or by title.
Budget Information on LEAP budget website (http://leap.leg.wa.gov/index.html)
Provides detail on budget proposals and links to Citizen’s Guides to WA State budgets.
Legislative Information Center (https://leg.wa.gov/lic/Pages/default.aspx)
Useful resource on the legislative website. Click on the Classes & Tutorials link to find great handouts and videos and live class info.
Committee Information (https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/CommitteeListing.aspx)
Sign Up for Email Updates on Committee Hearing Schedules (https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WALEG/subscriber/new)
Testifying in Committee or Submitting Comments (https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx)
The annual Washington Poison Center Poster Contest is now open! Any Washington student, kindergarten through 6th grade, may submit their art on the theme “Mr. Yuk Helps Everyone!” This year’s winner will receive a Kindle, a classroom party, and a visit with their local state representative.
The last day for a student to submit their entry is Friday, February 11, 2022.
Visit the Washington Poison Center website for more information and submission instructions.
Your efforts to empower teens and young adults to make informed decisions about drugs and alcohol and to support their mental health are more important than ever. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) invites you to join in during National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® (NDAFW), March 21–27, 2022. NDAFW is a week-long national health observance highlighting the science-based facts about drugs, alcohol, and addiction. Learn how to register your event, and how to get free materials for teens including the National Drug & Alcohol IQ Challenge quiz.
Rural Grant Progress
- Conference: Through a series of polls, members voted to host the conference in Moses Lake, WA sometime in October 2022. Stay tuned for one final poll to decide which week in October we prefer. Christopher is working with various venues to see what is available in October.
- Policy: Thank you for attending the Policy Roundtable and for your feedback on the event. Look for an email coming soon detailing all the policies shared at this meeting. Thank you additionally for those who used the letter template to do legislator education on behalf of the network.
- Toolkit: The February meeting is dedicated to the You Can campaign. We're holding a listening session to find ways this campaign can include more rural voices.
- Toolkit: We’re additionally hosting a Toolkit Workgroup meeting early February (see events section) to do additional work around the You Can campaign. We’ll have a collaborative brainstorm on content creation, social media themes, and more.
- Training: In February we're hosting a data training in advance of the Healthy Youth Survey data release (expected in March or April based on previous years pattern). See the events section below.
- Recruitment: We expect to host a New Member Orientation in the first quarter of the year. Continue using the recruitment kit in the Rural Toolkit.
- Photo Toolkit: Published! You may still submit more photos.
- Story Toolkit: Published! You may still submit more stories.
Youth and Family Link is partnering with Washington Dept. of Health to provide a training for all key influencers, teachers, staff and partners who are interested. Registration not required - click the flyer image for meeting information. All individuals interested in expanding their cultural competency education are welcome.
Starting 2022 Strong
Prevent appreciates your volunteerism and enthusiasm as the New Year begins. Thank you for being a reader and supporter of this important work.
Supported by the fiscal agent ESD 112, Prevent is a community coalition formed in 2003 to increase collaboration, awareness, and reduce youth substance use in Southwest Washington. Prevent also implements initiatives for rural communities across Washington state. As a community mobilizer, the coalition creates a culture promoting healthy choices; advocates for policies and regulations that protect, empowers and nurtures youth; and facilitates positive opportunities for youth to be involved and thrive.