Youth and Young Adult Programming
The Missouri State Opioid Response grant supports evidence-based prevention interventions targeting youth in high-risk communities. Experts agree that effective substance use prevention programs must be well-rounded, realistic, and interactive. Gone are the days of “just say no” – we must work with young people to build resiliency skills and help them find strength and meaning in healthy activities instead of risky drug use.
Positive Action
Ten Missouri Boys & Girls Clubs are offering the Positive Action prevention curriculum, a social emotional learning program for children in late childhood to early adolescence (ages 5-14) focused on reducing drug, alcohol, and tobacco use.
Generation Rx
PreventEd in St. Louis and Community Partnership of the Ozarks in Springfield operate the Generation Rx programs for school-aged youth as well as a range of community members in their regions. Participants learn resiliency and coping skills as well as the potential dangers of misusing prescription medications through age-appropriate curricula. The Generation Rx program content and accompanying materials are publicly available online through a partnership between the College of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University and the Cardinal Health Foundation.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Big Brothers, Big Sisters in St. Louis, Springfield, and Cape Girardeau are funded through the SOR grant to provide mentoring and wraparound services to youth and families.
Public Information Campaign at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Partners in Prevention (PiP) is a consortium of 21 public and private college and university campuses in Missouri, dedicated to addressing substance use and creating health and safe college campus environments. PiP is utilizing State Opioid Response grant funding to develop a series of informational materials at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that address the risks of opioid misuse and provides overdose prevention and response education.