A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

          FOR RELEASE                            Program Contact: Charlotte Gillespie      October 29, 1996                                        (202) 260-3954                                            News Media Contact: Melinda Kitchell Malico                                                                (202) 401-1008

More than $9 Million in Grants Awarded for Drug and Violence Prevention

More than $9 million in grants for drug and violence prevention programs has been awarded to schools and communities across the nation, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today.

"These grants provide support for schools that are working hard to curb teen drug use and aggressive or violent behavior," Riley said. "This extra support will help communities put into place programs that have a proven record of success. And to help expand what we know about what works in preventing drug use and violent behavior, schools and other grant recipients plan to measure and report on their own progress in these critical areas."

The awards support two year projects that tackle youth drug use and violence by:

infusing research based knowledge about "what works" into the design, development and implementation of school based efforts to prevent drug use among youth;
preventing students from bringing firearms and other weapons into schools;
preventing truancy and addressing the needs of youth who are out of the education mainstream (dropouts, truants); and,
preventing violent, aggressive, intimidating or other disruptive behavior arising from bullying, sexual harassment or other causes.

Baltimore City Public Schools, in collaboration with Cornell University Medical Center, for example, will use a proven drug abuse prevention program to help 1,600 inner city middle school students resist drugs. The Life Skills Training approach, developed at Cornell, also targets truancy prevention and reducing violent behavior.

In Virginia, Roanoke City Public Schools will develop and put into place a truancy prevention program for nearly 7,000 students in 11 elementary and five middle schools. The comprehensive approach employs educational and other support services to reduce violence, drug use and juvenile crime in schools and communities.

Three quarters of the 28 grantees are located in Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities. Such economically depressed communities develop strategic plans that link economic development with education and training, and use public safety, human services, and environmental initiatives together to strengthen and revitalize communities.

Each application was evaluated and scored by three non federal reviewers drawn from drug and violence prevention experts from around the country. Grants were awarded on the basis of highest average score. Funding for the grants was provided under the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act appropriations. The Safe and Drug Free Schools Federal Activities Grants Program supports development of innovative programs that help ensure safe and drug free schools and communities and makes available models of proven effective practices that can help schools and communities improve their programs.

-###-