99-16252. Training and Technical Assistance for the Life Skills Training Drug Prevention Program  

  • [Federal Register Volume 64, Number 122 (Friday, June 25, 1999)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 34504-34509]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 99-16252]
    
    
    
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    Part VI
    
    
    
    
    
    Department of Justice
    
    
    
    
    
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    Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
    
    
    
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    Training and Technical Assistance for the Life Skills Training Drug 
    Prevention Program; Notice
    
    Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 122 / Friday, June 25, 1999 / 
    Notices
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
    
    Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
    [OJP (OJJDP)-1237]
    RIN 1121-ZB70
    
    
    Training and Technical Assistance for the Life Skills Training 
    Drug Prevention Program
    
    AGENCY: Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and 
    Delinquency Prevention, Justice.
    
    ACTION: Announcement of discretionary competitive technical assistance 
    support.
    
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    SUMMARY: This program is authorized under the Omnibus Consolidated and 
    Emergency Supplemental Appropriation Act of 1999, October 19, 1998 
    (Pub. L. 105-277). OJJDP invites applications from schools, local 
    education agencies, local public health agencies, and public agencies 
    or private organizations involved with drug prevention activities. 
    Joint applications between schools or local education agencies and 
    nonschool applicants are welcome.
    
    DATES: Applications must be received by August 9, 1999.
    
    ADDRESSES: Interested applicants can obtain an application kit from the 
    Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse at 800-638-8736. The application kit is 
    also available on OJJDP's Web site at www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Stansbury Program Manager, Office 
    of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 202-307-5914. [This is 
    not a toll-free number.]
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a follow on to a previous OJJDP 
    program announcement of the availability of training and technical 
    assistance for the Life Skills Training drug prevention program, 
    originally announced in the Federal Register on December 4, 1998, 63 FR 
    67136. Under this program announcement, additional OJJDP-funded 
    training and technical assistance is being offered to 50 or more new 
    program sites.
    
    Purpose
    
        The purpose of this program is to support the development and 
    implementation of drug abuse prevention programs that help reduce risk 
    factors and enhance protective factors among adolescents in middle and 
    junior high school. The program will provide training and technical 
    assistance to schools and/or local education agencies to implement the 
    Life Skills Training drug prevention program. It will also provide the 
    program support and implementation materials needed to implement and 
    evaluate replication of this proven effective drug prevention program 
    model that addresses a community's identified substance abuse reduction 
    needs. The broad goal of the program is to reduce youth drug use by 
    encouraging the promotion of multiple approaches to educating and 
    motivating younger adolescents to make healthy lifestyle decisions.
    
    Background
    
        National survey data of adolescent drug use illustrate that the 
    1980's downward trend in the use of many drugs was reversed in 1993 
    (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1997); increases in the 
    prevalence of use among 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students were 
    observed through 1996. In 1997, the data indicated a leveling off for 
    some drug categories among some age groups, but in general, the trends 
    for the mid-1990's show escalating rates of use for students in the 
    three grades examined.
        Age-related normative expectations for substance use generally 
    place older children at greater risk for substance use initiation than 
    younger children. Among preadolescent children, the use of illegal 
    substances is relatively rare. The transition to middle school or 
    junior high school is viewed as a major risk period for experimentation 
    with gateway substances. The 1997 Monitoring the Future survey data 
    indicate that by 8th grade, 47 percent of students had tried cigarettes 
    at least once, 19 percent had smoked in the past month, and 9 percent 
    were daily smokers (University of Michigan Institute for Social 
    Research, 1997). For 10th grade students, these figures jump to 60 
    percent, 30 percent, and 18 percent, respectively, and for 12th grade 
    students they jump to 65 percent, 35 percent, and 25 percent, 
    respectively. Similarly, a large number of students reported having 
    tried alcohol at least once during their lifetimes: 54 percent of 8th 
    graders, 72 percent of 10th graders, and 82 percent of 12th graders 
    admitted having used alcohol at least once, and 25 percent, 49 percent, 
    and 64 percent, respectively, admitted having been drunk. Prevalence of 
    marijuana use was lower than for tobacco and alcohol, but still high. 
    Annual and 30-day use rates for those in 8th grade were 18 percent and 
    10 percent; in 10th grade, these rates were 35 percent and 20 percent; 
    and in 12th grade, they were 39 percent and 24 percent.
        Among youth who use drugs, a fairly predictable sequence has been 
    observed, beginning with substances legal for adult consumption and 
    then moving on to marijuana and eventually other illegal drugs (Kandel 
    and Yamaguchi, 1999). This pattern of use is largely consistent with 
    social attitudes and norms and the availability of drugs.
        In fiscal year 1998, Congress appropriated $5 million to the Office 
    of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) ``to develop, 
    demonstrate and test programs to increase the perception among children 
    and youth that drug use is risky, harmful, and unattractive * * * 
    [through an initiative that is] consistent with existing research 
    findings on effective prevention methods against teenage drug abuse'' 
    (Conference Report 105-405 for Pub. L. 105-119, November 13, 1997).
        A number of theories, models, and frameworks have been tested to 
    identify possible explanatory mechanisms of youth substance use 
    initiation. The results of these tests also have created a basis for 
    developing strategies for deterring initiation, use, and progression to 
    abuse. Interventions based on these different theories, models, and 
    frameworks may be more or less applicable to different target groups. 
    Target audiences for drug abuse prevention interventions are grouped 
    into three categories; different types of interventions are used for 
    each. Universal interventions reach the general population (e.g., all 
    students in a school), selected programs target groups or subsets of 
    the general population at risk (e.g., children of drug users), and 
    indicated interventions are designed for individuals who are already 
    experimenting with drugs or who exhibit other related risks that 
    foreshadow the use of drugs. The majority of interventions that have 
    been developed and rigorously tested are of the universal type 
    (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1997).
        Botvin, Schinke, and Orlandi (1995: 170-172) described common 
    approaches to drug prevention:
    
        The most common prevention approach used by schools relies on 
    teaching students factual information about drugs and drug abuse. 
    Typically, students are taught about the dangers of tobacco, 
    alcohol, or drug use in terms of the adverse health, social, and 
    legal consequences. * * * Programs that rely exclusively on 
    providing students with facts about drugs and drug abuse are 
    conceptually based on a cognitive model of drug use/abuse. Such a 
    model assumes that individuals make a more or less rational decision 
    to use drugs or not to use drugs. * * * This model of drug abuse 
    assumes that once armed with the necessary facts, students will make 
    a rational and informed decision not to use drugs.
    
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        Another common approach to drug abuse prevention has been referred 
    to as affective education. This prevention strategy [is] based on the 
    belief that the risk of using drugs [can] be reduced through programs 
    designed to promote affective development. * * * Instead of focusing on 
    cognitive factors, affective education emphasizes the personal and 
    social development of students. Affective education takes a somewhat 
    broader approach to the problem of drug abuse than information 
    dissemination by implicitly recognizing the role of psychosocial 
    factors. * * * For example, components of affective education 
    approaches that are used in some prevention programs include 
    decisionmaking, effective communication, and assertiveness.
    
        Subsequently developed approaches have been designed to target the 
    psychosocial factors believed to promote the use of drugs. Emphasis was 
    placed on teaching students the skills needed to resist influences such 
    as those from peers and the media (Botvin, Schinke, and Orlandi, 1995).
        Perhaps the theory most widely applied to the problem of substance 
    use is the Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977). This theory posits 
    that people learn behaviors through processes of modeling and 
    reinforcement. A model derived from this theoretical perspective is the 
    Social Influence Model. According to this model, youth's perceptions 
    that deviant behaviors are standard practices among their peers promote 
    deviance through the establishment of negative normative beliefs and 
    reinforcement of behaviors that confirm those beliefs (Botvin et al., 
    1995). Thus, the onset of substance use can be viewed as behavior 
    acquired through modeling, social pressure, and reinforcement by 
    friends, family, the media, and community norms and practices. These 
    same factors can be applied in a positive manner to change behavior.
        Epidemiologic and etiologic studies have identified various factors 
    that predict youth drug involvement (Bentler, 1992). A number of 
    frameworks have been developed for classifying these factors into 
    conceptual domains that may contribute to an understanding of how these 
    factors cluster and operate'singly and together'for individuals and 
    groups (for a review, see Hawkins, Catalano, and Miller, 1992). Perhaps 
    the most commonly used framework is the ecological perspective, which 
    groups factors into individual, family, peer group, community, and 
    sociopolitical contextual domains (Bronfenbrenner and Ceci, 1994). 
    Information about risks within these domains can then be used to focus 
    prevention programming and strategies.
        Recently, there has been a concentration on the identification of 
    factors that may protect at-risk individuals and groups from the 
    initiation of substance use and other problem behaviors such as 
    violence (Cicchetti and Garmezy, 1993: Garmezy, 1993; Masten and 
    Coatsworth, 1998; Werner, 1995). These protective or resiliency factors 
    have been demonstrated to reduce the initiation of substance use under 
    some circumstances. However, they appear to be less potent when there 
    is an accumulation of risk factors in an individual's life or community 
    (Hawkins, 1998). Moreover, risk and protective factors are not static; 
    their potency and meaning change with a person's developmental status 
    and circumstance (Glantz and Sloboda, in press). For example, 
    epidemiologic studies have documented an association between changing 
    beliefs about social responsibility and perceived risks of marijuana 
    use on the prevalence of use among high school seniors (U.S. Department 
    of Health and Human Services, 1997). That is, increases in social 
    disapproval of use and an increased perception of risk associated with 
    use were followed by a reduction in the prevalence of use from the mid-
    1980's to 1992. Perceived risk began to drop in 1992, and prevalence of 
    use began to increase in 1993. Thus, it appears that a change in social 
    norms can function as either a risk or a protective factor.
        Despite these caveats, the use of risk and protective factors as a 
    framework for the selection of community prevention programs has become 
    widespread, and a number of studies have demonstrated the utility of 
    the model for this purpose (Hawkins, 1998). In general, the more risk 
    factors present in a community, the greater the likelihood that an 
    individual will become involved with drug and alcohol use and other 
    problem behaviors. Knowledge of the specific risk factors present in a 
    community and among youth within that community provides policy makers, 
    practitioners, and implementers with information critical for 
    comprehensive, communitywide prevention planning.
        The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at the 
    University of Colorado, Boulder, has identified 10 prevention and 
    intervention programs that meet the highest scientific standards of 
    program effectiveness. CSPV has described these programs and provided 
    the documentation necessary for their replication in a series of 
    publications called Blueprints. The Life Skills Training (LST) program 
    is an effective drug abuse program model documented in the Blueprint 
    series. Developed by Dr. Gil Botvin, this program has empirically 
    demonstrated, across settings, that it reduces gateway drug use among 
    youth. Although this model has been tested in a number of 
    jurisdictions, the training and technical assistance offered under this 
    program announcement is designed to foster its replication in more and 
    diverse jurisdictions, including urban, rural, and tribal settings. 
    This whole school immersion drug prevention program targets middle and 
    junior high school students with initial intervention in sixth or 
    seventh grades, depending on school structure. For a more complete 
    explanation of the LST program, see the appendix.
    
    Goal
    
        The specific goal of the training and technical assistance program 
    is to reduce drug use among younger adolescents (middle and junior high 
    school students) by increasing the perception among children and youth 
    that drug use is risky, harmful, and unattractive.
    
    Objectives
    
         To adapt, implement, and monitor the implementation of the 
    Life Skills Training program.
         To reduce youth vulnerability to prodrug social 
    influences.
         To decrease risk factors for drug use and associated 
    behaviors by enhancing personal and social competencies and other 
    protective factors among youth.
    
    Program Strategy
    
        Training and technical assistance for the replication of the LST 
    model has been awarded to CSPV, which will, in turn, provide technical 
    assistance to individual schools and local education agencies. CSPV 
    will also assist in the selection of schools and local education 
    agencies for the replication of the LST model and support the training, 
    technical assistance, and process evaluation components of the program 
    in each of the selected schools and local education agencies. In 
    conjunction with CSPV, the LST training team, led by Dr. Botvin, will 
    work with each selected site, providing training, technical assistance, 
    and program and curriculum materials over a 3-year period.
        The training and technical assistance will be provided by CSPV and 
    the LST training team through a four-step process:
    
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         Determine the suitability of applicant organizations 
    (sites) to conduct the planned replication of LST (after being deemed 
    qualified by an OJJDP review panel). CSPV and LST will determine 
    suitability by reviewing applications, holding conference calls, and 
    making site visits, where necessary.
         Facilitate the delivery of curriculum materials during the 
    3-year program to the selected sites, an essential step because the LST 
    program requires strict adherence to a core curriculum.
         Provide technical assistance and training sessions during 
    the course of the 3-year program.
         Monitor implementation at the local level and conduct a 
    process evaluation to assess how well the program is being implemented 
    and is serving the selected sites. (This step will be carried out by 
    CSPV only.)
    
    Evaluation
    
        Evaluation of the program will consist of both a process evaluation 
    and an outcome evaluation. In conjunction with its monitoring function, 
    CSPV will conduct a process evaluation that will focus on the 
    individual project's adherence to the model. CSPV will collect data 
    through observing project functions, examining project documents, and 
    interviewing staff to determine whether the program is reaching the 
    target population and whether the program is being implemented as 
    designed. Information regarding the findings of the process evaluation 
    will be provided periodically to the projects for use in making project 
    management decisions.
        Also, in cooperation with OJJDP, the National Institute on Drug 
    Abuse will conduct an outcome evaluation to assess the extent to which 
    a large-scale replication program in schools and local education 
    agencies with diverse characteristics is able to effectively implement 
    the LST model across multiple sites and reduce substance abuse. To 
    facilitate the evaluation, applicant schools and/or local education 
    agencies, as appropriate, must agree to and/or arrange for the 
    following conditions:
         Applicants must document the cooperation and assurance of 
    the school or local education agency's administration to:
    
    --Provide documentation of cooperation and assurance for sites for 
    random assignment to either intervention or control schools (it is 
    anticipated that up to 30 sites (grantees) will be randomly selected to 
    participate in an outcome evaluation). Interviews with students 
    receiving the LST program and their matched counterparts in the control 
    schools (not receiving LST) will be conducted over a 5-year period in 
    sites selected to participate in the outcome evaluation.
    --Assist in obtaining informed consent from parents for their 
    children's participation in the project (to include the administration 
    of surveys) in the intervention (treatment) and nontreatment control 
    schools.
    --Cooperate with the administration of pretests, posttests, and annual 
    follow-up school surveys through the students' high school years to 
    assess the impact of the implementation over time. The surveys will be 
    done in both the intervention schools and the nontreatment control 
    schools.
    
         Applicants must agree to collaborate with the researchers 
    in designing and administering surveys to assess risk and protective 
    factors and potential mediators of program effectiveness such as school 
    environment (school policies, school behavioral norms), drug use 
    behaviors, perceptions of risk, and changes over time in skill 
    development and/or other essential intervention components.
         Applicants must agree to allow researchers access to all 
    process evaluation data, including those data that monitor the fidelity 
    of implementation across sites, participation rates, and barriers to 
    implementation.
         Over the course of the project, the researchers conducting 
    the outcome evaluation will provide feedback to participating schools 
    and agencies on the outcome evaluation, including interim and final 
    reports.
    
    Eligibility Requirements
    
        OJJDP invites applications from schools, local education agencies, 
    local public health agencies, and public and private drug prevention 
    agencies. Joint applications between schools or local education 
    agencies and nonschool applicants are welcome. If the applicant is not 
    a school or local education agency, the application must include a 
    memorandum of understanding that documents the local education agency's 
    formal commitment to cooperate with the applicant, participate in all 
    training, and provide all necessary data over the course of the 
    project.
    
    Selection Criteria
    
        Because sites will not receive funding directly, but instead will 
    receive training, curriculum materials, and technical assistance, OJJDP 
    has modified its standard selection criteria.
        Applicants will be reviewed to determine that they are qualified 
    based on the following criteria:
         Applicants' assessment of the juvenile drug use problem in 
    their communities, particularly whether specific problem areas coincide 
    with the requirements of the LST model.
         Applicants' understanding of the program's specific goals 
    and objectives.
         Applicants' ability to restate the objectives in 
    measurable terms.
         The local structure established to implement the project.
        Prior to the CSPV and LST team review process described above, 
    applicants will be evaluated and rated by a review panel according to 
    the criteria outlined below.
    
    Problems To Be Addressed (15 points)
    
        Applicants must describe the targeted school or local education 
    agency and explain why it would be a suitable site for replication of 
    the LST program. This description should include the number of schools 
    and students that will participate in the LST program and must explain 
    the community assessment process, including the procedures used, the 
    types and sources of data, and the relationship of the data to the 
    target population. Emphasis should be placed on establishing baseline 
    data that describe community risk and protective factors and general 
    characteristics of the population to be served. Applicants should also 
    describe other drug prevention programs (e.g., efforts to reduce 
    underage drinking and community-based coalitions designed to reduce 
    substance abuse by youth) in the community and explain how this program 
    will be coordinated with them.
    
    Goals and Objectives (5 points)
    
        Applicants must provide succinct statements demonstrating an 
    understanding of the goals, objectives, and tasks associated with the 
    project (see, for example, sections regarding evaluation and 
    implementation design and also the appendix). Objectives must be 
    quantifiable and measurable, and applicants must convey a clear 
    understanding of the purpose, implementation, evaluation requirements, 
    and expected results of the project.
    
    Implementation Design (40 points)
    
        The LST program is a school-based intervention designed to be 
    implemented in the classroom.
        Applicants must demonstrate that the LST program meets the drug 
    prevention needs of the target population of students within the 
    specific community. They must also provide a detailed description of 
    the processes for planning and implementing the project
    
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    and for cooperating with the outcome evaluation grantee.
        Because successful prevention programs change students, schools, 
    neighborhoods, and families in ways that reduce drug use by youth, 
    proposals must be based on local objective data that identify 
    characteristics and risk factors that need to be addressed and 
    protective factors that show potential. Data collected about 
    populations other than the specific populations that will receive 
    direct services under the program (for example, national or State data 
    on youth drug use) are not considered sufficient evidence that the 
    program responds to the community-level needs of the target population. 
    Applicants should provide evidence that they will work with the LST 
    training and technical assistance provider to make the program 
    culturally relevant to the target community and its population.
        Applicant schools and agencies also should consider that greater 
    effectiveness is achieved when the core elements of the original 
    research-based model are retained. Core elements are the basic 
    structure, content, and delivery of the program. For example, the 
    structure of the program includes the number of sessions during year 1 
    and booster sessions during years 2 and 3 required to achieve the 
    desired effect; the content includes the critical components such as 
    normative education, refusal skills, and social skills training; and 
    delivery includes the provision of appropriate staff training and 
    resources to assist in implementation.
        Applicants must detail the number of schools and students within 
    each school that will be involved in the replication effort during the 
    3-year period. LST is ideally meant to begin in sixth or seventh grade 
    (middle or junior high school) with booster sessions in each of the 
    following 2 years. However, in the 2 years following the initial 
    implementation, two new sixth grade cohorts may begin implementing LST, 
    so that eventually the entire school is implementing the program. 
    Although applicants may submit proposals with any number of 
    participating schools and students, OJJDP reserves the right to hold 
    sites to a limited number of participating students. Applicants must 
    identify an equal number of students in nontreatment school sites to 
    serve as control groups. Documentation for each participating school of 
    a commitment to implement the program or serve as a control school for 
    the participating schools should be included. Because the evaluation 
    may involve random assignment to treatment or control groups, schools 
    must be willing to commit to participate in either group.
    
    Management and Organizational Capability (35 points)
    
        Applicants must demonstrate that their management structure and 
    staffing are adequate for the successful implementation of the project. 
    They must present a workplan that identifies responsible individuals, 
    major tasks, and milestones (timeline) for implementing the LST model 
    in their school(s), with training beginning in late summer or early 
    fall 1999 and implementation beginning in spring 2000. Applicants 
    should specifically describe coordination and collaboration efforts 
    related to the project.
        Applicants must demonstrate any existing programs or partnerships 
    related to substance abuse prevention by submitting project 
    descriptions or memorandums of understanding, interagency agreements, 
    or other documentation. These materials may be attached as appendixes. 
    However, the collaborative relationship must be clearly described in 
    the application. Staff resumes or job descriptions should also be 
    attached as an appendix.
    
    Budget (5 points)
    
        Training and technical assistance funds for the replication of the 
    LST model will not be awarded to individual schools and local education 
    agencies, but rather to CSPV, which will use the money to provide all 
    materials, training, technical assistance, and a process evaluation. 
    Thus, applicants are required to submit budgets detailing only the in-
    kind contributions they will make to ensure sufficient onsite 
    coordination of and support for replication of the model. Examples of 
    in-kind contributions include, but are not limited to, office space, an 
    appropriate location for provider training and onsite technical 
    assistance, personnel to serve as liaison with LST and CSPV and 
    coordinate local site activities, and equipment that will be used to 
    support the project.
        Applicants must provide as an in-kind contribution a mechanism for 
    coordinating onsite training and technical assistance such as providing 
    a suitable location for provider training by LST staff. Applicants 
    should describe this mechanism. For example, a school might designate 
    one or more individuals as training and technical assistance 
    coordinator(s). Applicants should list and total the value of those in-
    kind contributions required to implement this project and describe 
    plans for institutionalizing the project. Applicants are advised that 
    they must document the in-kind costs in accord with OMB Circular A-110 
    or A-102.
    
    Format
    
        The narrative portion of this application must not exceed 25 pages 
    (excluding the budget narrative, forms, assurances, and appendixes) and 
    must be submitted on 8\1/2\- by 11-inch paper, double-spaced on one 
    side of the paper in a standard 12-point font. These standards are 
    necessary to maintain a fair and uniform standard among all applicants. 
    If the narrative does not conform to these standards, OJJDP will deem 
    the application ineligible for consideration.
    
    Project Period
    
        Sites selected will be provided technical assistance, program 
    implementation training, and LST curriculum materials over a 3-year 
    project period.
    
    Project Sites and Level of Support
    
        Up to 50 projects will be selected to replicate the LST model 
    locally over 3 years. Successful applicants will receive the training, 
    curriculum materials, and technical assistance from CSPV and LST. In 
    making final selections, the OJJDP Administrator will consider 
    geographic distribution and balance in the number of each type of 
    jurisdiction (urban, rural, and tribal) selected.
    
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number
    
        For this program, the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) 
    number, which is required on Standard Form 424, Application for Federal 
    Assistance, is 16.729. This form is included in OJJDP's Application 
    Kit, which can be obtained by calling the Juvenile Justice 
    Clearinghouse at 800-638-8736 or sending an e-mail request to 
    puborder@ncjrs.org. The kit also is available online at 
    www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.
    
    Coordination of Federal Efforts
    
        To encourage better coordination among Federal agencies in 
    addressing State and local needs, the U.S. Department of Justice is 
    requesting applicants to provide information on the following: (1) 
    Active Federal grant award(s) supporting this or related efforts, 
    including awards from the U.S. Department of Justice; (2) any pending 
    application(s) for Federal funds for this or related efforts; and (3) 
    plans for coordinating any funds described in items (1) or (2) with the 
    funding sought by this application.
        For each Federal award, applicants must include the program or 
    project title, the Federal grantor agency, the
    
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    amount of the award, and a brief description of its purpose.
        ``Related efforts'' is defined for these purposes as one of the 
    following:
         Efforts for the same purpose (i.e., the proposed award 
    would supplement, expand, complement, or continue activities funded 
    with other Federal grants).
         Another phase or component of the same program or project 
    (e.g., to implement a planning effort funded by other Federal funds or 
    to provide a substance abuse treatment or education component within a 
    criminal justice project).
         Services of some kind (e.g., technical assistance, 
    research, or evaluation) to the program or project described in the 
    application.
    
    Delivery Instructions
    
        All application packages should be mailed or delivered to the 
    Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, c/o Juvenile 
    Justice Resource Center, 2277 Research Boulevard, Mail Stop 2K, 
    Rockville, Maryland 20850; 301-519-5535.
    
        Note: In the lower left-hand corner of the envelope, the 
    applicant must clearly write ``Training and Technical Assistance for 
    the Life Skills Training Drug Prevention Program.''
    
    Due Date
    
        Applicants are responsible for ensuring that the original and five 
    copies of the application package are received by 5 p.m. ET on August 
    9, 1999.
    
    Contact
    
        For further information, call Eric Stansbury, Program Manager, 
    Special Emphasis Division, at 202-307-5914, or send an e-mail inquiry 
    to stansbur@ojp.usdoj.gov.
    
    References
    
    Bandura, A. 1977. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 
    Prentice Hall.
    Bentler, P.M. 1992. Etiologies and consequences of adolescent drug 
    use: Implications for prevention. Journal of Addictive Diseases 
    11(3):47-61.
    Botvin, G.J., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L., and Botvin, E.M. 1995. Long-
    term follow-up results of a randomized drug abuse prevention trial 
    in a white-middle-class population. Journal of the American Medical 
    Association 273(14):1106-1112.
    Botvin, G.J. 1995. Drug abuse prevention in school settings. In Drug 
    Abuse Prevention With MultiEthnic Youth, edited by G.J. Botvin, S. 
    Sckinke, and M. Orlandi. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
    Bronfenbrenner, U., and Ceci, S.J. 1994. Nature-nurture 
    reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological 
    model. Psychological Review 101(4):568-586.
    Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. 1998. Blueprints 
    for Violence Prevention, Book 5: Life Skills Training. Golden, CO: 
    Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
    Cicchetti, D., and Garmezy, N. 1993. Prospects and promises in the 
    study of resiliency. Development and Psychopathology 5:497-502.
    Garmezy, N. 1993. Children in poverty: Resiliency despite risk. 
    Psychiatry 56:127-136.
    Glantz, M., and Sloboda, Z. In press. Analysis and 
    reconceptualization of resilience. In Resilience and Development; 
    Positive Life Adaptations, edited by M. Glantz and J. Johnson. New 
    York, NY: Plenum Press.
    Hawkins, J.D. 1998 (June). Moving to phase five in the prevention 
    cycle: Collaborating with communities to make prevention science 
    prevention practice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the 
    Society for Prevention Research, Park City, UT.
    Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, R.F., and Miller, J.Y. 1992. Risk and 
    protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in 
    adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse 
    prevention. Psychological Bulletin 112(1):64-105.
    Kandel, D.B., and Yamaguchi, K. 1999. Developmental stages of 
    involvement in substance use. In Sourcebook on Substance Abuse: 
    Etiology, Epidemiology, Assessment, and Treatment, edited by R.E. 
    Tarter, R.J. Ammerman, and P.J. Ott. New York, NY: Allyn and Bacon.
    Masten, A.S., and Coatsworth, J.D. 1998. Development of competence 
    in favorable and unfavorable environments: Lessons from research on 
    successful children. American Psychologist 53(2):205-220.
    National Institute on Drug Abuse. 1997. Preventing Drug Use Among 
    Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide. NIH Publication 
    No. 97-4212. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human 
    Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug 
    Abuse.
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    1986. Balancing program and research integrity in community drug 
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    and Johnson, C.A. 1989. Primary prevention of chronic diseases in 
    adolescence: Effects of the Midwestern Prevention Project on tobacco 
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    after a long rise. Press release. Ann Arbor, MI: University of 
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    Appendix
    
        Applicants should contact The Center for the Study and 
    Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University 
    of Colorado at Boulder, Campus Box 442, Boulder, Colorado 80309-
    0442; 303-492-8465, to obtain copies of the Life Skills Training 
    Blueprint. The cost is $10.
        Following is a brief description of the LST model, summarized 
    from Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Book 5: Life Skills 
    Training.
    
    The Life Skills Training Program
    
        The LST program is a primary prevention program that targets 
    individuals who have not yet developed drug abuse problems. The goal 
    of the program is to prevent gateway substance use among adolescents 
    by making an impact on risk factors associated with tobacco, 
    alcohol, and marijuana use, particularly occasional and experimental 
    use. This goal is accomplished by providing adolescents with the 
    knowledge and skills to:
         Resist peer and media pressure to smoke, drink, or use 
    drugs.
         Develop a positive self-image.
         Make decisions and solve problems on their own.
         Manage anxiety.
         Communicate effectively and avoid misunderstandings.
         Build healthy relationships.
         Handle social situations with confidence.
        The LST program is a school-based intervention designed to be 
    implemented in the classroom. This intervention often is referred to 
    as a universal intervention in that it is designed for all 
    individuals in a given setting. The program was developed to have an 
    impact on drug-related knowledge, attitudes, and norms; teach skills 
    for resisting social influences to use drugs; and promote the 
    development of general personal self-management skills and social 
    skills. The LST prevention program comprises three major components. 
    The first component is designed to teach students a set of general 
    self-management skills. The second component focuses on teaching 
    general social skills. The
    
    [[Page 34509]]
    
    third component includes information and skills that are 
    specifically related to the problem of gateway substance use. The 
    first two components are designed to enhance overall personal 
    competence and decrease the motivation to use drugs and 
    vulnerability to social influences. The problem-specific component 
    is designed to provide students with material that relates directly 
    to drug use (drug resistance skills, antidrug attitudes, and 
    antidrug norms). Skills are taught using training techniques such as 
    instruction, demonstration, feedback, reinforcement, and practice. 
    In school districts that have a middle school structure, the program 
    is implemented with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Where there 
    is a junior high school structure, the program is implemented with 
    seventh, eighth, and ninth graders.
        The LST prevention program is a 3-year intervention designed to 
    prevent or reduce gateway drug use. The program comprises 15 
    sessions in year 1, 10 booster sessions in year 2, and 5 booster 
    sessions in year 3. The most natural and logical provider for a 
    school-based prevention program is a regular classroom teacher. In 
    addition to their availability, teachers are a logical choice 
    because of their teaching experience and classroom management 
    skills. Selection of program providers should be based on their 
    interest, experience, enthusiasm, and commitment to drug abuse 
    prevention; the extent to which they will be positive role models; 
    and their willingness to attend the training workshop and implement 
    the intervention carefully and completely according to the 
    provider's guide.
        The LST program provides project personnel 1- or 2-day initial 
    training on the curriculum. This training is designed to familiarize 
    intervention providers with the prevention program, its rationale, 
    and the results of prior studies and to provide them with the 
    opportunity to learn and practice the skills needed to successfully 
    implement the program. Onsite and telephone technical assistance 
    also are available to school personnel implementing the program in 
    the respective project sites. In addition, LST provides booster 
    training sessions during the second and third years.
        There are two ways to implement LST in the classroom. The 
    program can be scheduled so that it is taught at a rate of one class 
    per week, or it can be programmed as a curriculum module or 
    minicourse so that the entire program is conducted on consecutive 
    class days. LST is a prescribed prevention program but has some 
    implementation flexibility. It can be implemented in a number of 
    different curriculum slots such as health education or drug 
    education, if available, or through a major subject area such as 
    science or social studies. Generally, it is implemented in a single 
    subject area and taught by one teacher. However, some schools have 
    implemented the program through more than one subject area where 
    students are being taught by a team of teachers.
        Individual or district-level school sites may implement the 
    school-based program, which is designed to serve between 330 and 
    1,000 students in the school/district population who enter the 
    program over a 3-year period in groups of equal size.
        LST is based on an understanding of the causes of gateway 
    substance use. LST interventions are designed to target the 
    psychosocial factors associated with the onset of drug involvement. 
    The initiation of drug use is the result of a complex combination of 
    diverse factors; there is no single pathway or single variable that 
    serves as a necessary and sufficient condition for initiating drug 
    use. The LST approach to drug abuse prevention is based on an 
    interactive model of drug abuse; drug abuse is thought of as 
    resulting from a dynamic interaction of an individual and his or her 
    environment. Social influences to use drugs (along with the 
    availability of drugs) interact with individual vulnerability. Some 
    individuals may be influenced to use drugs by the media (television 
    and movies that glamorize drug use or suggest that drug use is 
    normal or socially acceptable and advertising efforts that promote 
    the sale of alcohol and tobacco products), family members who use 
    drugs or convey prodrug attitudes, and friends or acquaintances who 
    use drugs or hold attitudes and beliefs supportive of drug use. 
    Others may be propelled toward drug use or a drug-using peer group 
    because of intrapersonal factors such as low self-esteem, high 
    anxiety, other negative feelings, or the desire for excitement.
        The program focuses on drug-related expectancies (knowledge, 
    attitudes, and norms), drug-related resistance skills, and general 
    competence (personal self-management skills and social skills). 
    Increasing prevention-related drug knowledge and resistance skills 
    can provide adolescents with the information and skills needed to 
    develop antidrug attitudes and norms and to resist peer and media 
    pressure to use drugs. Teaching effective self-management and social 
    skills (improving personal and social competence) can produce an 
    impact on a set of psychological factors associated with decreased 
    drug abuse risk (by reducing intrapersonal motivations to use drugs 
    and by reducing vulnerability to prodrug social influences).
        Examples of the types of personal and social skills typically 
    included in this prevention approach are decisionmaking and problem-
    solving skills, cognitive skills for resisting interpersonal and 
    media influences, goal setting and self-directed, behavior-change 
    techniques, adaptive coping strategies for dealing with stress and 
    anxiety, general social skills, and general assertiveness skills. 
    This prevention approach teaches both these general skills and their 
    application to situations related directly to tobacco, alcohol, or 
    drug use. Building knowledge and skills in these areas can provide 
    adolescents with the resources they need to resist peer and media 
    pressures to use drugs and aid in developing a school climate in 
    which drug use is not acceptable.
        More than one-and-a-half decades of research with the LST 
    program have consistently shown that it can cut drug use in half. 
    These reductions (relative to controls) in both the prevalence 
    (i.e., proportion of persons in a population who have reported some 
    involvement in a particular offense) and incidence (i.e., the number 
    of offenses that occur in a given population during a specified time 
    interval) of drug use have been reported primarily in tobacco, 
    alcohol, and marijuana use. These studies have demonstrated that 
    this prevention approach can produce reductions in drug use that are 
    long lasting and clinically meaningful. For example, long-term 
    follow-up data indicate that reductions in drug use by seventh 
    graders can last up to the end of high school. Evaluation research 
    has demonstrated that this prevention approach is effective with a 
    broad range of students including white middle-class youth and poor, 
    inner-city minority (African-American and Hispanic) youth. Not only 
    has this approach demonstrated reductions in alcohol and marijuana 
    use of up to 80 percent, but evaluation studies have shown that LST 
    also can reduce more serious forms of drug involvement such as the 
    weekly use of multiple drugs or the prevalence of heavy smoking (a 
    pack a day), heavy drinking, and episodes of drunkenness.
    
        Dated: June 21, 1999.
    Shay Bilchik,
    Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
    [FR Doc. 99-16252 Filed 6-24-99; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 4410-18-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Published:
06/25/1999
Department:
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Office
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
Announcement of discretionary competitive technical assistance support.
Document Number:
99-16252
Dates:
Applications must be received by August 9, 1999.
Pages:
34504-34509 (6 pages)
Docket Numbers:
OJP (OJJDP)-1237
RINs:
1121-ZB70
PDF File:
99-16252.pdf