Substance Abuse Prevention Services
The Substance Abuse Prevention Program, which is funded through the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, includes a broad array of prevention strategies for individuals not identified to be in treatment. These strategies include information dissemination, education, alternatives, problem identification and referral, community-based process and environmental approaches. Working with children and parents, the Mental Health Center's Prevention Specialists conduct 4,368 hours, in group-settings, throughout Madison County that focus on a variety of topics. Programs include: HIV-AIDS prevention/education, alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention/education, goal setting and achieving goals, communication skills, decision-making and coping skills and many other relevant topics. Parenting is offered throughout the year using The Parent Project curriculum. Workbooks are furnished to the parents.
The Parent Project
Parent Project is a 10-week program, designed specifically for parents of strong-willed or out-of-control adolescent children (ages 11-adult). The curriculum teaches prevention, identification, and intervention strategies for the most destructive adolescent behaviors. These behaviors include poor school attendance and performance, alcohol and/or drug abuse, runaways, gangs, and violent teens.
The Panda Project
Another component of the Substance Abuse Prevention Program is The Panda Project, a behavior modification camp for out-of-control children and their parents. Funded by the Children's Trust Fund, this 10-week program is offered as an alternative to school suspension, detention home sentencing, boot camp, or jail time. Camps are offered on Saturday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to noon four times each year. Topics taught to children and their parents include: love and affection, interpersonal power, understanding conflict, drug prevention, anger management, identifying and dealing with stress, communication skills, consequences of actions, goal setting, and other topics. The camps are divided into the following age groups: Camp Promise (ages 8-10), Camp Hope (ages 11-13), Camp Change (ages 14-17) and the Child Management Skills Camp (utilizing The Parent Project curriculum and workbooks) for the parents/caregivers. The program is open to the public, but you must be registered to attend. For more information, call 705-6454.
Trainings for the Community
The Prevention Program offers training for adults --professional and non-professional--in workshop settings. Topics include:
Drug Information Workshops
Gang Identification Within Your Community
Community Resource Information
Listening & Communication Skills
Safeguarding Children in Our Care
Cultural Diversity
Anger Management
Effective Discipline Techniques for Children
Preventing Violence in the Workplace
Various other topics may also be customized to specific groups as needed.