This grant proposal seeks to identify and treat substance use disorder (SUD) and its risk factors in middle and high school students in the Alachua County public school system who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Students in Alachua County have a high prevalence of ACEs which increases the risk for SUD development. Alachua County public school staff will undergo training to learn and implement trauma-informed approaches as they will be involved in the initial screening process (NEA, n.d.). This intervention would utilize a county-wide screening processes to identify students with four or more ACEs, as these students are shown to have much higher rates of substance use than those with fewer than four ACE (FDCF, 2020). Students with four or more ACEs and parental consent will undergo secondary screening processes with health promotion experts from the Alachua County Health Department. Based on professional opinions from these experts, students who are deemed eligible will be referred to treatment with a licensed substance abuse counselor from a local Gainesville mental health and substance abuse clinic. This treatment includes one individual and one group therapy session a week over a 6-month period. With this intervention, we hope to identify those at risk for SUD to implement protective measures as well as identify those with SUD and provide appropriate resources and treatment.
Trauma-Informed Principles
We used principles and guidelines from Trauma-Informed Philanthropy from the Scattergood Foundation and SAMHSA that we will utilize in our intervention. The first principle we want to emphasize is safety (Scattergood Foundation, 2016), as we want to ensure everyone involved (students, staff, and health professionals) feels physically and psychologically safe (SAMHSA, 2014). Another principle we will implement is peer support and mutual self-help, as students receiving SUD treatment will participate in group therapy sessions (Scattergood Foundation, 2016). This will give students the opportunity to participate in story-telling, problem solving, and building relationships. A third principle incorporated into this grant proposal is collaboration and mutuality, as Alachua County public schools will be working alongside the Alachua County Health Department and local mental health clinics; this provides a more comprehensive approach to help students by combining skills of staff members in the intervention process (Scattergood Foundation, 2016).
Levels of the Social Ecological Model
We are using the McLeroy's Social Ecological Model (SEM) in which we will address three different levels (Agrawal, n.d.). First, we will address the individual level of this SEM by providing one on one therapy sessions for students who are struggling with SUD. This gives students a safe and confidential space to communicate and learn. We will also address the interpersonal level of this SEM through the previously mentioned group therapy sessions. Providing a group space shows children they are not alone in their struggles and allows for the formation of peer connections. Finally, we will address the institutional level of this SEM by providing training to school staff in which the goal is to create a trauma-informed space for both students and staff. We will also involve school staff in the initial screening processes, which provides educational value for these staff members.
Public Health Framework
We will approach the implementation of this intervention utilizing a public health framework. We acknowledge that negative health outcomes often occur in conjunctions with other hardships in life; in this specific case, we are acknowledging that SUD occurs in conjunction with ACEs (Scattergood Foundation, 2016). We will focus on the secondary and tertiary levels of prevention. The initial and secondary screening processes fall under the secondary level of prevention, as we are looking to identify students at high risk for SUD (CDC, n.d.). The individual and group therapy sessions fall under the tertiary prevention level, as we will provide treatment for those identified as struggling with SUD (CDC, n.d.).
References
Agrawal, K. (n.d.). Using the Social Ecological Model (SEM) to address trauma in populations. [Video]. University of Florida.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Prevention. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/pictureofa...erica_prevention.pdf
Florida Department of Children and Families (FDFC). (2020). 2020 Florida youth substance abuse survey. My Florida Families. https://www.myflfamilies.com/s...-reports/Alachua.pdf
National Education Association (NEA). (n.d.). Trauma-informed schools. NEA. https://www.nea.org/profession...uma-informed-schools
SAMHSA’s Trauma and Justice Strategic Initiative. (2014). SAMHSA’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. SAMHSA. https://store.samhsa.gov/sites.../priv/sma14-4884.pdf
Scattergood Foundation. (2016). Trauma-informed philanthropy: A funder’s resource guide for supporting trauma-informed practice in the Delaware Valley. https://ufl.instructure.com/co.../assignments/4968046
Comments (0)