Prevention
Youth/Skill Building Programs
We support and sponsor programs, such as in- and after-school tutoring, summer school, language classes, and recreational activities. Skill building materials are adapted to improve personal life through experiences, and to facilitate pro- social activities by Asian and Polynesian youth.
Family Programs
Parents are provided opportunities through individual and group sessions to learn and practice skills which enhance and strengthen the family. Information topics and material includes, "how to Help Your Child Succeed in School", and "How to Communicate with Youth and Children". We also meet in the home with the entire family to assist family needs.
Strengthening America's Families and Environment
In conjunction with the University of Utah
The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) funded the University of Utah's "Strengthening America's Families and Environments (SAFE) Project with the Asian Association of Utah. The goals of this research project are to reduce vulnerabilities to later drug use and conduct problems by decreasing risk factors early in children in first grade. Major program objectives are to improve classroom behavior, reduce conflict and aggressive behavior, strengthen family involvement and parenting, and increase children's school attachment and school success. These goals will be achieved by implementing three nationally recognized programs:
I Can Problem Solve (Myna Shure, Ph.D., Allegheny University),
Strengthening Families Program (Karol Kumpfer, Ph.D., University of Utah),
EXCELS Project (David Compton, Ph.D., University of Utah).
Since the project is research oriented, not all schools will receive intervention services. Half of the schools will be randomly selected as control group sites and will be asked to participate at a minimal level with stipends provided for teachers, children and families who participate. We hope that Utah educators will join with the University to bring high quality services to children and families in their schools. Information regarding the project and the role of the school is provided below.
Contacts:
Karol L. Kumpfer, Ph.D. Project Director (801) 581-7718
Connie Tait, Ph.D. Program Coordinator (801) 585-9201
Rose Alvarado, Ph.D. Research Coordinator (801) 585-9201
Student and Family Involvement
Target Population. We will be working with first grade students and their families during the 1997-98 school year and then will continue working with this same group once they are in second grade. Thus, the program will follow-up with these students for a minimum of two years.
Child/Family Recruitment. All families and children in first grade next year will be asked to participate in the project. SAFE project staff will take responsibility for recruitment of the families for the project, but will need the support of the school staff such as teachers and counselors. We will ask teachers to distribute fliers, collect enrollment forms and provide referrals of families in need of in-home case management. We would also hope that the school counselor would also be able to provide referrals of families in the greatest need.
Project Components. Not all children and their families will be involved in all the components of the project. Some of the participating schools will be randomly assigned as control groups. The schools that do act as intervention sites will have the I Can Problem Solve Curriculum in the classroom and only some of the families will choose to participate in the Strengthening Families program and then a subset of the children of those families will participate in the EXCELS Project. An additional subset of the 50 neediest families will participate in the in-home case management.
Faculty Roles
Teacher Responsibility. First grade teachers (1997-98) will be asked to implement a 16-week curriculum (I Can Problem Solve) in their classroom during the course of next school year. This curriculum helps to reduce aggressive and acting out behaviors through teaching children social and cognitive problem solving skills. The curriculum involves 'teaching kids to think through problem situations which in turn will make the classroom easier to manage". Teachers would be asked to integrate this methodology into daily classroom activities on an informal level throughout the remainder of the year. A two day will be provided for the teacher in August or September 1997. Teachers will also be asked to complete a short behavioral rating scale on the children at the beginning of the school year and at the end of the year. There will also be a teacher designated who will act as a site coordinator for the school and will be reimbursed for her or his services.
Second grade teachers would be asked for their commitment for participation in the project the following year, and be trained in the I Can Problem Solve Curriculum. For children who are still being aggressive, a special "pull-out" group will be run 1 hour a week for them by clinical psychology interns trained in Dr. John Lockman's Anger Coping Program.
Teacher Training. A two day training session will be provided during August of 1997. Teachers will be provided with a $200 stipend for their attendance. Dr. Myma Shure (the program developer) will conduct the training. She has implemented the program and will be able to provide information from a practitioner's perspective regarding implementation. We will talk with each district to determine the best dates for training in relation to the district school schedule and then coordinate those dates to select the most convenient day for all involved.
Curriculum Delivery. There will be minimal (if any) preparation time required by the teacher for implementation other than reviewing curriculum activities suggested. Copies of the Curriculum will be provided to teachers. The curriculum is designed to be delivered in approximately 16 weeks with 30 minute sessions three times a week and can be substituted for language arts activities as there are stories that can be read to the children. The material incorporates 25 years of research into the curriculum, is user friendly, is easily incorporated into the classroom and has been revised with the support of teachers who have implemented it in their classroom. An outline of the curriculum follows.
Not all of the sessions are delivered as part of the curriculum. Teachers will also be given a $500 stipend for curriculum implementation.
Teacher Referrals. We will ask teachers to distribute fliers/enrollment forms to students regarding the various components of the program such as the Strengthening Families Program. We will also ask teachers to collect the enrollment forms as children bring them back to the classroom. We will also ask teachers and counselors to provide referrals for the in-home case management component of the program. Teachers will not be involved in project components other than implementation of the classroom curriculum.
Administrative Support
Facility Space. Since there is a family-skills training program (Strengthening Families Program) and an after-school life skills/recreation program (Project EXCELS) offered, it will be necessary to have space available for these components. The Strengthening Families Program requires a minimum of three separate rooms. The first hour of the program, the children meet in a separate room for social skills training and then they come together with the parents for family activities the second hour. Siblings are also invited to attend with day care being provided for children older than 3 years of age. The EXCELS Program will also require space for life skills and recreational/mentoring/tutoring activities. We will work with individual schools to accommodate schedules of other activities, but it will be necessary to have an assigned contact at the school to coordinate scheduling.
Student Reminders. The staff will ask that announcements be made over the school intercom as a reminder for the program components. The school SAFE Site Coordinator will ask school staff to make the announcements.
The SAFE project staff hopes to work as independently as possible so as not to interrupt regular school activities but will be seen as an integral part of the services the school provides.
Benefits to Teachers and Students
Teachers get paid training in model
program to reduce conduct problems in kids
Free two times a week after school care
for children
Weekend family summer camp at YMCA Camp
Rogers
Free parent training for parents
Group treatment for most aggressive 2nd
graders once a week
Free in home family counseling with
referrals to needed services
THE SAFE PROJECT PROGRAM COMPONENTS
I Can Problem Solve
Program
Myrna Shure, Ph.D., Allegheny University (formerly Hahnemann)
The focus of this program is on developing a set of interpersonal cognitive problem solving skills that relate to overt behaviors as early as preschool. By enhancing ICPS skills, the ultimate goal is to increase the probability of preventing later, more serious problems by addressing the behavioral predictors early in life. In addition to behavioral outcomes, the intervention is designed to help teachers use a problem solving style of communications that guides young children to think for themselves.
Information and skills are learned in 16 sessions three times a week. The first section focuses on learning a problem solving vocabulary in the form of games. The second section concentrates on teaching children how to listen.
It also teaches them how to identify their own and other's feelings, and to realize that people can feel different ways about the same thing. In the last section children are given hypothetical problems and are asked to think about people's feelings, consequences to their acts, and different ways to solve problems. During the program teachers are given exercises to help them think about their own feelings and become sensitive to those of their children. Teachers also learn how to find out their child's view of the problem and to how engage their child in the process of problem solving.
Strengthening
Families Program
Karol L. Kumpfer, Ph.D., University of Utah
The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is a family skills training program designed to reduce risk factors for substance use in high-risk children including behavioral problems, emotional, academic and social problems. SFP builds on protective factors by improving family relationships, parenting skills, and improving the youth's social and life skills.
SFP provides 14 weekly 2-3 hour meetings. It includes three separate courses: Parent Training, Children's Skills Training and Family Life Skills training. Parents learn to increase desired behaviors in children by using attention and reinforcements, communication; substance use education; problem solving, limit setting and maintenance. Children learn communication; understanding feelings; social skills; problem solving; resisting peer pressure; questions and discussion about substance use; compliance with parental rules. Families learn to conduct weekly family meetings to address issues, reinforce positive behavior and plan activities together. SFP uses creative retention strategies such as transportation, child care and family meals.
AAU EXCELS Academy
David Compton, Ph.D., University of Utah
Through the development of competence, mastery and excellence, children and youth create positive self images. In addition, each individual must begin to assume the mantle of leadership through clear decision making, positive role modeling and goal achievement. Finally, our focus is on developing skills that apply to everyday living experiences. These skills will be accomplished through after school meetings conducted one to two times a week and through the participation of the entire family in a weekend summer camp held during late summer.
Click here to download the pdf of AAU EXCELS Academy brochure.