Youth Prevention Programs

Prevention programs can often be the missing puzzle piece to help youth abstain from substance use.  The Porter County Substance Abuse Council provides free programs to the community.  These programs are evidence-based or promising practices that address risk and protective factors that indicate an adolescents potential for use.  The current programs offered by the council are:

PreVenture: 

PreVenture is an evidence-based program that uses personality targeted interventions to promote mental health and skill development to delay substance use. It is designed to help at-risk youth ages 12-17 use coping skills, set long-term goals, and channel their personality towards achieving them. Based on four personality types- Anxiety Sensitivity, Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, and Negative Thinking. Two 90-minute groups sessions, a week apart, are conducted with youth who are grouped together based on their personality type.  Facilitators are trained to deliver the program by utilizing Motivational Interviewing methods. 

PreVenture is based on four personality types- Anxiety Sensitivity, Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, and Negative Thinking, which reveals key information about participants’ behaviors relating to substance use motives, drugs of choice, patterns of coping, and sensitivity. Multiple studies have shown PreVenture to be effective beyond reducing drinking and drug-use rates.  It has effectively delayed onset of drinking and binge drinking, reduced risk for alcohol-related problems, reduced risk for mental health problems such as anxiety and depression and reduced misconduct problems. 

To learn more about the program, visit: https://preventure.us/  

This is NOT About Drugs: 

This is (Not) About Drugs (TINAD) is an in-class, universal program designed to raise awareness to substance misuse, with a special emphasis on prescription opioids. TINAD targets youth in grades 6 – 12 and incorporates personal stories from youth affected by opioids / SUD for peer-to-peer learning. It is built for 45-minute time block and can expand for longer time periods upon request. 

It is important to talk to youth about opioid risks. Unlike other substances, there is an increased risk of dependence and overdose with opioid misuse. Few youths are aware of this risk and 14% report use of nonprescribed pain medication. This education is critical — it is lifesaving.  The 2018 Indiana Youth Survey indicated that prescription opioid misuse is starting as early as 11 years old. 22% of students who participated in TINAD know someone misusing pain medicine. 15% - Preferred Not to Say. Post-surveys indicate that 78% of students Strongly Agree/Agree that they are less likely now to misuse prescription pain pills than before the TINAD presentation. 

To learn more about the program, visit: https://www.overdoselifeline.org/opioid-heroin-prevention-education-program/ 

REAL Media: 

REAL media is a five-lesson, e-learning curriculum to prevent adolescent substance use among 11- to 17- year-olds by: increasing their knowledge of advertising techniques used to sell alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drug (ATOD) products; developing their counter-arguing and critical-thinking skills in response to ATOD messages; helping them apply these skills and techniques to create youth-driven, anti-ATOD messages.  It can be delivered to a group of youth in the classroom or to students individually via a tablet or computer.  There is no training needed for facilitators, however PCSAC staff can meet with facilitators prior to delivery if requested. 

REAL media is the digital version of the evidence-based face-to-face Youth Message Development program that received a rating of EFFECTIVE on a variety of evidence-based registries including NREPP. They are both grounded in media literacy and social-cognitive theories that are guided by experiential-learning principles. The activities are designed to be engaging and challenging. They encourage students to reflect and offer their thoughts via open-ended questions as well as quizzes and optional depth sections where students can further explore their interests. Each level ends with an interactive challenge that allows participants to apply new skills. Evaluation studies demonstrate that YMD:  reduces pro-drug attitudes; reduces intentions to use substances; and increases ability to resist pressure to use. 

To learn more about the program, visit: Real Media – Real Prevention (real-prevention.com) 

AVOID: 

AVOID is a media-based online toolkit for vaping prevention programming with middle and high school students. The current AVOID toolkit includes five one-hour lessons with videos, discussion guides, and handouts for immediate implementation by a facilitator. AVOID was developed with a strong science-base, with vetting from top tobacco researchers and prevention practitioners. A pretest/posttest evaluation of AVOID’s core components with over 200 students found that exposure to the AVOID materials effectively changes knowledge about vaping, perceptions of risk about vaping, and lowers intentions to vape at statistically significant levels. 

AVOID contains brief educational videos and discussion guides. The videos engage students and provide information. The accompanying discussion guides help adults present these videos to kids and conduct a deeper conversation on topics that include what is in vapes and who is using them, what is in the vape “smoke”, physical consequences of vaping, nicotine in vapes and risk of addiction, harmful flavors in vape liquid, and how the tobacco industry targets youth with vapes. 

To learn more about the program, visit: https://avoidvapes.com/  

Wake-Up Call: 

The Wake-Up Call presentation provides practical information on current drug trends, a walk-through of a teens' bedroom with more than 20 red flags that could indicate substance abuse, and proactive parenting strategies to keep your child substance free. 

Porter County Substance Abuse Council staff can provide a free presentation at schools, community events, back-to-school nights, etc. to teachers, parents, coaches, or anyone who is influential in the lives of young people.  

To learn more about this program, please visit: https://www.yourchoiceprevention.org/wake-up-call