White House Unveils New Drug Prevention Program

Parent Corps Gives Parents the Tools They Need to Keep Their Kids Drug-Free

Washington, D.C. (July 14, 2004) – The Bush Administration today unveiled its latest initiative in the fight against youth drug abuse – Parent Corps, a new effort dedicated to helping parents prevent drug use by their children.

“We know that parents remain the most important influence on children, particularly when it comes to decisions about drugs,” said John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy. “The national fight against drug use must be fought on many fronts, and an early and active role by parents in drug prevention is critical to the success of that effort.”

The Parent Corps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which provided a three-year, $4.2 million grant to the Atlanta-based nonprofit group National Families in Action to establish Parent Corps programs in nine states.

“The Parent Corps takes the power of community engagement and multiplies it with the power of strong parents to keep drugs away from our kids,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which also administers the Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. “We can’t think of a better way to grow our culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility than to enlist and empower parents to work with each other and for each other on behalf of keeping their children, their schools, and their neighborhoods drug-free.”

The Parent Corps relies on a cadre of trained and knowledgeable parents – known as Parent Leaders – to educate other parents in their children’s schools about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use and to support those parents in their efforts to keep their children drug-free. During their two-year, full-time terms, Parent Leaders:

• teach other parents in their children’s schools about how drugs affect children;
• show them how children are at risk;
• share scientific research on the effects of drug use and on the power of parents to influence their children’s lives;
• mobilize parents into groups that stop the marketing of drugs to children; and
• create a peer support network that fosters the growth of healthy children into productive adults.

“Although our culture is rife with drug references, and pressures on our children remain strong, it’s not inevitable that children will experiment with drugs,” said Sue Rusche, President and CEO of National Families in Action. “Parents can keep their children drug-free. The Parent Corps shows them how.”

Thus far, Parent Leaders have been selected and trained in seven cities in four states: Denver, Colo.; Stamford and Weston, Conn.; Wilson and Wilmington, N.C.; and Appleton and Kimberly, Wis. Those Parent Leaders have begun recruiting Parent Volunteers and training them about preventing drug use in children in anticipation of the new school year. By early 2005, the Parent Corps will expand operations to five other states – California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, and South Carolina.

The Parent Corps has its roots in a campaign pledge by then-candidate George W. Bush to create a Parent Drug Prevention Corps as part of his anti-drug effort. President Bush requested $5 million in the fiscal 2003 budget of the Corporation for National and Community Service, of which $4,967,000 was appropriated by Congress. In October 2003, a grant of $4,167,000 was competitively awarded to National Families in Action, which has spent the intervening time creating an infrastructure for the Parent Corps and recruiting and training Parent Leaders. The remaining $800,000 of the appropriated funds was awarded to RTI (Research Triangle Institute) to conduct an evaluation of the program and its effectiveness.

In each state where the Parent Corps operates, National Families in Action has established an affiliation with a statewide drug-prevention organization, which helps select sites and expand the program. Partner organizations in the initial four states are Partnership for a Drug-Free Colorado; Connecticut Communities for Drug-Free Youth, Inc.; Wilson (N.C.) Families in Action, Inc.; and Wisconsin Families in Action. Partner organizations for the programs beginning in December include the National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse (of California), the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, the Illinois Drug Education Alliance, the Kansas Family Partnership, and the Greenville (S.C.) Family Partnership.

Training for Parent Corps was developed with a grant to National Families in Action from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Other Federal partners in the program include the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"We were delighted to help support the development of training for the Parent Corps," SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie said. "Parents need to know the dangers of substance abuse and communicate these dangers to their children. Children need to know that their parents have solid reasons for disapproving use of tobacco, alcohol or drugs."

“New research into the adolescent brain shows that a key step to preventing adult drug addictions is preventing drug and alcohol use by children and adolescents,” said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Parent Corps can help in that effort.”

A pilot Parent Corps program, financed by the state of North Carolina, has been in operation since 2002. Sixteen Parent Leaders currently are working in communities throughout the state, and another seven are serving as volunteer Parent Leaders.

Through a balanced strategy of prevention, treatment, and supply reduction, youth drug use has declined by 11 percent over the last two years, exceeding President Bush’s goal of a 10 percent reduction by 2004. This success translates into 400,000 fewer young people using illicit drugs in 2003 than in 2001. Despite our national progress, however, youth drug use continues to be a significant problem. According to data from the most recent Monitoring the Future survey, more than 37 percent of students have used an illegal drug at least once in their lifetimes. The data are especially alarming because drug use has been shown to impair adolescents’ academic, emotional, and social development. It can also lead to addiction, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, mental illness, accidents, and suicides.

More information about the Parent Corps is available at http://www.parentcorps.org. Additional information about the Corporation for National and Community Service is at www.nationalservice.org.

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