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Meth and Inhalants Training:

The Maine Inhalant Abuse Work Group, the Office of Substance Abuse, MethWatch (MAPSA), and AdCare Educational are pleased to announce a one day training featuring two workshops!  Available on May 5th, 10th, or 20th the morning workshops are titled "Inhalant Abuse: It's Right Under Your Nose" and the afternoon workshops are "Methamphetamine in Maine: Understanding the Drug and What You Can Do at the Community Level".  Please go to www.neias.org/SATadregme.html to download the brochure and/or register online.
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Maine Parent Federation Trainings (free)   http://www.mpf.org/events.htm

Working with Children with Challenging Behaviors - UM Hutchinson Center 4-28-10 (w/lunch)

Working with Children Impacted by Trauma - May 12 in Bangor (w/lunch)

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Prevention Ethics Training:

Sponsored by OSA and Maine DHHS.  Presenter: Jackie Vallie, CPS is offered in Orono, Maine:  June 1, 2010 and in Portland, Maine:  June 2, 2010.  Registration Fee:  $35

To register online, to download a brochure or for further information, go to  http://www.neias.org/SATAdcal#prevethics     Pre-registration is required.

Registrations are pouring in for the last cycle of this school year.  Tug has been going over the stats for the first two cycles of this school year and discovered that we have already hit our yearly goal of reaching 20% of the local middle school population (and we still have a cycle to go!).  That means that just in THIS SCHOOL YEAR, more than 20% of the middle school students have taken a STAR class.  We have more than 50 registrations for the upcoming cycle in hand, and a full week left for more kids to get them in.  Offerings this cycle include Farm Hands Level 2, Jazz Dance, Improvisational Drama, Knitting, Animal Antics, Gardening, Cooking, Swimming Level 2, Fit and Fun, Digital Photography, Creative Writing, and Martial Arts.

We also received some GREAT news from Maine's Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (JJAG)- they have decided to fund us for another year at the same level!

The legislation requires basic benefit packages for all health plans in the individual and small group markets to cover substance use disorder and mental health services.
 

The legislation requires all plans in the health insurance exchange to comply with the Wellstone/Domenici Parity Act, meaning that substance use disorder and mental health benefits must be covered in the same way as all other covered medical and surgical benefits.

The final legislation creates a National Prevention Council, of which the Director of the Office of National Drug Control will be a member. The National Prevention Council is required to submit a report to Congress, and substance use disorders are listed as a national priority that must be included in the report.
 

The legislation requires the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to be consulted with on issues related to preventing substance use disorders.
 

The legislation authorizes grants for school-based community health centers, and requires these centers to provide substance use disorder and mental health services. Preference will be given to applicants who can show that they have evidenced barriers to providing substance use disorder prevention services for children and adolescents, as well as populations of children and adolescents that have historically demonstrated difficulty in accessing substance use disorder prevention services.
 

The legislation authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control to provide grants to State or local health departments and Indian tribes to carry out 5-year pilot programs to provide public health community interventions, screenings, and where necessary clinical referrals for individuals between the ages of 55 and 64. The community interventions, screenings and referrals may include substance use disorders.

The legislation authorizes grants for community health teams. Substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and mental health service providers are eligible to apply for these grants, which will support medical homes.

The legislation includes the capacity of the behavioral health and mental health workforce as high-priority topics in the bill's National Workforce Strategy section."

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Study Suggests Effective Meetings Can Increase Coalition's Volunteers

March/April 2010 issue of Research Into Action breaks down the findings of the study, Perceived meeting effectiveness: The role of design characteristics, and suggests ways for coalitions to improve their meetings.

More on the study and how local anti-drug coalitions can use the data to inform their efforts appears in the March/April 2010 issue of Research into Action. Download the pdf version of the issue from the CADCA website at http://www.cadca.org/files/resources/RIA-Mar-Apr2010.pdf