Free To Grow

A substance abuse prevention initiative involving Head Start grantees of

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Columbia University School of Public Health is the National Program Office (NPO) for the Free To Grow Initiative. Clinical Professor Judith Jones is Director of the NPO and Ms. Lori Santo is the Deputy Director of the NPO.

Five grantees are funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to pilot their respective models, each designed to...

• Strengthen the functioning of their target communities, and ultimately create more nurturing communities in which young children may grow up unthreatened by the prevalence of drug abuse and its associated risks to children, and
  
• Strengthen the functioning of individual families in those communities, focusing particularly Head Start families.

Each Free To Grow grantee must have a number of major partners with whom they must share their RWJF resources.

National Grantee Meeting...

Owensboro Hosted the Free To Grow Grantees

Representatives from each of the five Free To Grow grantees, the National Program Office (NPO) at Columbia University, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a number of consultants came to Owensboro October 15-18. Most of the meetings were be held at the RiverPark Center, with the guests lodging at Owensboro’s Hampton Inn.

We proudly welcomed them to Owensboro. It was a great national grantee meeting!

The Free To Grow-Head Start Grantees ...

Aspira De Puerto Rico, Rio Pedras, Puerto Rico

The ASPIRA "Compay" model addresses the needs of at-risk, multi-problem families in the San Isidro community east of San Juan. The ASPIRA model focuses on intensive individual and family interventions. Carefully screened and selected healthy families, the "Compays," mentor participating at-risk families. The "Compays" serve as one-on-one peer counselors to their families. The "Compay" families also intervene with and in behalf of their at-risk families, acting as advocates to help their assigned families obtain needed community services. But "Compay’s" primary role is to provide support and guidance and model healthy behavior for participant families. The functions of the "Compay" families are varied, and each differs with the unique needs of the family with whom they are matched. They may help a family member find employment, educate the family about options for drug or alcohol abuse treatment, or assist participant families with strengthening their problem solving skills. "Compay" families try to alleviate the sense of isolation and even alienation many of the participant families experience. Aspira's major partners are the Exchange Club Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Consultores en Conducta Humana, Inc.

Audubon Area Community Services, Inc., Owensboro, Kentucky

The "Owensboro" Free To Grow project has a dual emphasis that focuses on strengthening families from within and strengthening their surrounding community. The model is designed for and directed toward building capacities in smaller communities threatened by substance abuse. The Head Start connection is specifically designed to strengthen those Head Start families involved in the initiative and to create more nurturing community environments in which their children may grow in safety to their fullest potential. A Family Advocate provides intensive case management and case intervention to at-risk Head Start families. Community members form the core of a community action group whose task is to focus on reducing the impact of substance abuse on the children in their community. A major emphasis of the program has been its work with the local police department to increase police visibility and activity in the West End neighborhood. The major partners with the AACS in this initiative are the Owensboro Independent School District's Foust Elementary School (with particular focus on the Foust Family Resource Center) along with RiverValley Behavioral Health (formerly the Green River Comprehensive Care Center)/Substance Abuse Prevention Services.

The Audubon program expanded last Fall into Hancock County, with extension this Spring to Hopkinsville-Christian County, and plans next year (1998) to Lyon County. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support will continue through mid-1999 with the initiative by then becoming thoroughly integrated into AACS, Inc. Head Start operations area-wide. The underlying emphasis for the AACS, Inc. is to develop, prove and refine a model for rural areas and moderate size communities to replicate in helping them too develop more nurturing, less drug-abuse susceptible communities in which young children can truly be "free to grow" and achieve their maximum potential.

See related page on the Foust Community PlayPark, for which Free To Grow served as the community support and participation organizer. The AACS, Inc. was the the non-profit grantee partner of the Kimberly-Clark Company, which funded the major portion of the PlayPark. The AACS, Inc. Head Start also provided funding for the adjacent preschool section of the playground, which lies behind the new Hager Preschool in Owensboro.

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Compton, California

In an area with high drug-related arrests and high drop-out rates, the "Compton" model focuses on capacity building and community mobilization. The goal is to empower residents to find their own solutions to community-identified problems. The program’s intent is to facilitate substantial change in the community infrastructure and to build a stronger, more cohesive, and more skilled citizenry, thereby decreasing the incidence of substance abuse within its bounds Strengthening the social bonds, reinforcing positive community norms, empowering residents to take responsibility and leadership with community needs, and developing stronger collaborative initiatives for community strengthening are key elements of the Compton program. Its major partners include the Compton Unified School District, the Los Angeles Urban Communities Coialition, and the Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

Community Partnership for Child Development (CPCD), Colorado Springs, Colorado

The CPCD model has two purposes: It targets the most "at-risk" families with individual counseling services and the community-at-large through coalition building and community organizing in this relatively isolated low-income community. The program identifies high risk Head Start families in the relatively isolated Stratton Meadows, a low-income community of Colorado Springs. It links them with the community and with appropriate resources — including free substance abuse treatment counseling for families — and engages them in education and training to build independence and self-sufficiency. Neighborhood committees plan and implement activities in response to community-identified issues of concerns. Thus, the CPCD program focuses on strengthening the environment of the Head Start child by strengthening and empowering their family's capacities and limiting their vulnerabilities in the neighborhood where they live. Their approach builds on the existing Head Start structure, so it also entails promoting better parenting skills and parent involvement; enlisting the support and involvement of the local schools in family success; and family counseling, particularly around the issues of substance abuse. Its major partners include the Neighborhood Resources Division of city government; the McMasters Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment, a 14-member-agency local human services interagency collaborative (Joint Initiatives for Youth and Families), the Colorado Springs police department, and two schools in the Stratton Meadows community.

Fort George Community Enrichment Center, the Fort George community of New York, New York

The Fort George project works with immigrant families who are primarily of Latin(o) American, now largely Dominican, heritage. It focuses on relieving barriers--social, political, language--for a predominately immigrant community, Feelings of alienation and stress, coupled with poverty are very common among first-generation immigrant families in the U.S., and are among the risk factors for substance abuse. The project seeks to increase their participation in and connectedness with the community, enhance their understanding of substance abuse issues, and strengthen their cultural awareness and pride. Residents are enrolled and engaged in a variety of community, cultural, and service initiatives. The project then works to prepare, encourage, and enhance the residents' leadership and involvement toward advocacy and activism related to substance abuse and other community-wide concerns. The Fort George project, located very near the NPO, was brought into the Free To Grow initiative when the program was created. Its major partners include the Northern Manhattan Collaborates, SOAR (Schools Organized to Actively Resist Drugs), the Dominican Studies Institute at CCNY, and the Women's Action Alliance.

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