CEASe has had youth substance use prevention as a primary focus since its inception. The mission statement is: to reduce the incidence and prevalence of substance abuse and addictions among youth and adults in Scott County. This mission is reflected in the Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP). Every three years, the coalition writes a new CPP and revises its problem statements to reflect changing substance abuse trends within the community. Presently, the “Problem Statements” are:

(1)  Youth and adults in Scott County use and abuse alcohol.

(2)  Youth and adults in Scott County use and abuse prescription medications.

Youth Substance Use Initiatives

Below is evidence of CEASe’s focus on youth substance use initiatives:

Prevention/Education Local Initiatives

  1. CEASe holds 3 Community Forums each year: one in February, one in April, and one in September. These forums offered prevention and education information to all citizens.
  2. CEASe and Communities That Care hosted a Community Forum on ”Losing a Son to Overdose: A Scott County Family’s Journey in January 2013 and one in September 2013 on “Make Good Decisions Your Goal” with Norm and Dawn Finbloom who educated the community about “Indiana’s Lifeline Law”.
  3. “What’s Your Side Effect” Film Festival Contest was in April for all 5-12th grade students in the county and a Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking was held.
  4. Held “Parents Who Host, Lose the Most: Don’t Be a Party to Underage Drinking” Campaign during each spring prior to prom and graduation.
  5. Public service announcements were put on the CEASe website, area radio station radio waves, radio station website, in the newspapers, CEASe Facebook Page, and “Feeling Good Scott County” magazine on Indiana’s Social Hosting Laws and Consequences, along with pertinent information on drug trends and the advertisement of upcoming community events.
  6. Fact Cards on Indiana’s Social Hosting Laws are given out to all graduating seniors in the county.
  7. CEASe Coordinator and County Law Enforcement speak to all Scottsburg High School Prom-Goers and graduating Seniors on underage drinking law and local law enforcements and consequences.
  8. Scott County School District 1 and 2 teach LifeSkills in grades 3 through 8, an evidence-based program proven to help children develop healthy life skills and hopefully prevent them from making bad choices when it comes to drug and alcohol use and abuse as they enter high school and young adulthood.
  9. In response to the Indiana Prevention Resource Center’s Indiana Youth Survey results indicating high scores on the “Family Conflict” risk factor among youth, Communities That Care received an Implementation Grant to implement Family Based Prevention Programs in the county, in order to offer parenting classes to parents and caregivers using Guiding Good Choices, an evidence-based program, and offer classes for those who are divorcing using Children in Between program.
  10. TAP/TEG Program: Helping Teens Stop Using Tobacco (TAP), a tobacco cessation program aimed at teens. TEG: Intervening With Teen Tobacco Users through alternative to suspension programs.
  11. Just Say No Club is offered to all 4th and 5th grade public school students of Scott County School District 2. The goals of the club are: to learn about and support each other in living drug free, to learn and to practice ways to resist negative peer pressure, to perform community service, and to have fun.
  12. Builders’ Club (Scottsburg Middle School): Motto–Building leaders, Vision–To develop competent, capable, caring leaders through the vehicle of service. Mission–Builders Club is an international student-led organization providing members with opportunities to perform service, build character and develop leadership. Core values: Character building, Leadership, Inclusiveness, and Caring.
  13. S.A.D.D. Club is offered to any 6-12 grade Scottsburg student. SADD is a peer-to-peer education, prevention, and activism organization dedicated to preventing destructive decisions, particularly underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, teen violence, and teen suicide. S.A.D.D.’s Mission is to provide students with the best prevention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, other drug use, risky and impaired driving, and other destructive decisions.
  14. Club316 is an after-school, Bible-based program held in each of the public elementary schools in Scott County. Their vision for this program is to connect children to Christ and then to follow-up with each of the children and families in hopes of connecting them to a local church congregation. At Club316, children participate in high-energy worship, engaging Bible stories, and a life application station where they learn through skits, crafts, and other hands-on experiences how the Bible story of the day pertains to their lives. Children are also fed a complete, hot meal each week.
  15. Scottsburg High School Key Club International is a high school organization sponsored by the Scottsburg Kiwanis Club. This Club assists Kiwanis in carrying out its mission to serve the children of our community. Student members perform acts of service in their communities, such as cleaning up parks, collecting clothing and organizing food drives. They also learn leadership skills by running meetings, planning projects and holding elected leadership positions at the club, district and international levels.
  16. The Scott County School District 2 Elementary Schools hold “Healthy Kids Night” and “Healthy Family Night” each fall.
  17. Scottsburg Middle School does a program called Student Success Skills.
  18. Get Healthy Scott County publishes a 16 page color magazine “Get Healthy Scott County” to promote “feel good” stories about positive things going on in the county, business-related, health-related, community-service related, education-related, and other positive programs going on to promote education and prevention.
  19. Electronic newsletter “Good New Chronicle” is distributed to the county via email to promote good news in the county.
  20. CEASe has a booth at the Scott County Fair, Back to School Bash, Fire Station Trick-or-Treating, etc., to pass out prevention and educational resources to thousands of people.
  21. Scott County has been selected as one of five Indiana counties to address Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention. The Scott County Partnership, Inc. will be administering this grant starting in 2013 through 2016, while working closely with CEASe and Communities That Care. The grant is approximately $130,000 per year for three years and enabled the hiring of a prevention coordinator who will address prescription drug abuse and misuse prevention in the 12 to 25 age group.
  22. Scott Memorial Hospital has a well-enforced ER Narcotics Pain Policy to promote safety of patients and discourage the use of narcotic and sedative medications except when necessary and to provide safer prescribing practices for patients.

Treatment/Intervention Local Initiatives

  1. New Creation Addiction Ministries took on 14 new clients in 2013 who have alcohol and/or drug addictions. To their knowledge, 4 of them are back doing drugs, 6 of them are doing well, and 4 they are not sure. They referred 16 other guys to other drug treatment programs. They are helping young men by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who are experiencing life-controlling problems, such as drug addiction and alcoholism. Their mission is to see people transformed into the likeness of Christ through intense discipleship, radical love, and a structured environment that allows the chains of bondage to be broken.
  2. National Youth Advocate Program (NYAP) offers Outpatient Alcohol and Drug services, such as Substance Use Disorder Assessment, Individual and Family Counseling, Drug Screens, Outpatient Treatment Counseling Groups, Intensive Outpatient Treatment, and Education Programs. They began receiving referrals for the AOD program in May 2013. They had 79 people referred to their AOD program for a substance use assessment. Out of the 79, they had 5 juveniles successfully complete a Prime for Life class that was offered in October. Out of the 79 they had 9 cases that closed unsuccessfully, whether they could not be found to complete the assessment or that they did not meet with us for the program after the assessment was completed. That leaves 65 cases/individuals that successfully completed assessments on from the end of May 2013 to December 31, 2014.
  3. Scott County has a residential treatment facility for youth. This program has a substance abuse subprogram. Also, we have a summer camp program that supports behavioral improvement in different at risk children. Beyond these programs, our county has the availability to other programs through the Department of Probation, Division of Child Services, and new Mental Health Portal. To this end, other services throughout the state can be utilized for adolescent treatment of substance abuse. This includes various levels of care from outpatient to locked residential care. These programs can be located in the IARCCA Manual.
  4. Sawyer Groups: Substance Abuse Reduction Course at Scott County Jail provided by LifeSpring with a Grant from CEASe. Jail Participants completed a six session course led by an addiction therapist with groups no larger than 15; separate male and female groups. After completion of the 6 session course, participants were given a Certificate of Completion. Provided 8 separate sets of psycho-educational programs. After completion of the course, they will be permitted to participate in a bi-monthly processing group until their release from jail. The process group allowed them to continue to process their substance abuse issues and explore needed changes in their life to support sobriety and decrease the chances of relapse and recidivism.
  5. The Scott County Health Department held a class called “Scott County Quits” using the FreshStart Program from the American Cancer Society. 24 people took the class with 21 people completing the class in 2013.

Justice/Law Enforcement Local Initiatives

  1. Scottsburg City Police Department: Officer with this department work alcohol patrols (different blitzes include the targeting of individuals who are operating a vehicle while intoxicated).  Officers are assigned to After Prom and graduation detail for general security which includes observation for alcohol use by youth.
  2. Scott County Sheriff’s Department:  Sheriff McClain travels to the high schools to speak with youth about Social Hosting (Parents Who Host Lose the Most) and the consequences of drinking and driving and drug abuse. Furthermore, officers take part in special patrols designed to spot individuals who are operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances. The Sheriff’s Department had a mobile command center stationed at the Scott County fair for citizens to report any criminal activity and to increase officer presence during fair week.
  3. In April 2013 the Scott County Sheriff’s Office hosted Rule the Road, a free teen driving event specifically targeted towards teens ages 15-18. It gave teens the unique opportunity to learn the skills they need to keep them safe behind the wheel. During this 6 hour event, students got to participate in a fatal vision course, driving practice, skid simulator, quick click seat belt challenge, seat belt convincer, and distracted driving simulator. Rule the Road offered teens in Scott County an opportunity to practice lifesaving skills on a closed course with certified instructors. It also reinforced and reaffirmed safe driving practices including wearing seat belts and not driving impaired or distracted.
  4. Scott County Prosecutor’s Office: reviews cases received from law enforcement agencies and enforces the law applicable to the charges received. The prosecutor’s office has partnered with Hoosier Hills PACT to create a round-up Drug and Alcohol Class for juvenile offenders who have been charged with drug or alcohol-related crimes. They also utilize community corrections (community service hours) as a punitive measure in misdemeanor drug/alcohol/marijuana cases. When appropriate, first time misdemeanor offenders are referred to the Prosecutor’s Office Pre-Trial Diversion Program.
  5. Scottsburg City Police Department: had a plain clothes officer at the fair to cite tobacco infractions. They have a working relationship with the schools in which law enforcement is notified of tobacco issues involving youth and school property. Law enforcement responds to and investigates and cites youth into the Scott County Prosecutor’s office to address the violation. School faxes the reports to the Prosecutor’s Office notifying them of youth tobacco offenders. Chief Zellers has spoken with local businesses about identifying minors during tobacco sale transactions.
  6. Scott County Sheriff’s Department:  Assigns officer on special patrols (example:  Undercover officers assigned to Scott County Fair detail to observe for youth using tobacco.)
  7. Austin Police Department:  The department is working with the school to address one on one issues with youth using tobacco and forward the information to the Prosecutor’s Office.
  8. Scott County Prosecutor’s Office:  The Prosecutor’s office offers youth tobacco offenders an option to pay the infraction associated with the tobacco offense or to complete the TEG program and have the infraction dismissed. It is the intent of the prosecutor’s office that the TEG program option will be seen as an incentive to youthful offenders that is beneficial to their health.
  9. The County schools are to turn over issues with tobacco users to law enforcement for documented violations and further referral to TAP/TEG.
  10. Prescription Drug Diversion Training took place October 2013 at the Mid-America Science Park. The Indiana Attorney General’s Office and the Scott County Prosecutor’s Office hosted the event. The program was open to investigative officers and prosecutors, and covered topics related to prescription medications, including abuse identification, drug overdose deaths, “Pill Mill” investigations, Doctor Shopping, and the INSPECT program. Officers from around Southeastern Indiana were invited to attend in Scottsburg.  Attendance included officers and prosecutors from all over southern Indiana and even Kentucky, along with the State Police and members of the Attorney General’s Office. Attendance numbers at the Scottsburg event exceeded attendance at all of the other, more urban, regional locations.
  11. Scottsburg Police Department:  Two officers are on the FBI Safe Street Task Force (one officer is assigned and the other officer works special assignments for the program). The task force is used to reduce the flow of drugs in Scott County, both prescriptions and illegal drugs. Officers have been sent to trainings involving undercover investigations and prescription drug investigation training. The department has a good working relationship with local pharmacies in which the pharmacies contact law enforcement directly to report suspicious drug activity. Officers have traveled to elementary schools to discuss safety issues with students and the dangers of prescription medications.
  12. Scott County Prosecutor’s Office:  offers resources to offenders while holding them accountable for their actions. The Drug Interdiction Prosecutor refers offenders to Clark County Drug Court (however that program is no longer being utilized) and Floyd County Veteran’s Court where offenders receive treatment for substance abuse issues in a highly structured and rewarding environment. Offenders are held accountable for their actions and noncompliance may result in immediate execution of a previously stayed sentence; however, for offenders who successfully complete these programs, the charges that had been filed against them are dismissed. In certain situations the Drug Interdiction Prosecutor will facilitate advancement into the Purposeful Incarceration Program through the Indiana Department of Corrections for offenders who are required to serve substantial prison sentences. The Purposeful Incarceration Program is a specialized program that focuses on treatment of the offender for substance abuse issues in a structured environment in which the participants are segregated from the rest of the prison population. Furthermore, the Prosecutor’s office looks forward to defendant’s taking advantage of the Sawyer’s Group services offered by LifeSpring for incarcerated individuals. As groups graduate the program, the Prosecutor’s Office will take into consideration the individual’s participation when formulating a resolution to pending cases. Prosecutor Jason Mount serves as a board member for the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney’s Council and has been active in formulating changes in the law as it relates to drug crimes.
  13. Scott County Sheriff’s Department:  A deputy is assigned to the FBI Safe Street Task Force. The Sheriff’s Department regularly sends officers to training opportunities, which deal with undercover drug investigations. Sheriff McClain attended Scottsburg Elementary School to speak with kindergarteners about drug safety (Officer Arnold spoke with Elementary students). Recently undercover investigations led to the arrests of 7 drug dealers in a drug sweep that involved the controlled buys of controlled substances and methamphetamine. Sheriff McClain currently has officers scheduled to attend Dessert Snow, which is a 2 day drug interdiction training course, and Deputy Shawn Mayer has been assigned as a K9 unit and will be involved in training in July and September in Clarksville.
  14. Scott County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from the Scott County Prosecutor’s office hold Take Back Prescription Drug Initiatives, for people wishing to dispose of their unused or expired prescription or over the counter medications.
  15. Austin Police Department:  Officers received overtime pay from CEASe funds and equipment was purchased. At the end of 2013, 19 arrests were made from controlled buy/undercover work which included two households at known drug locations. Officers continue to work undercover investigations with respect to drug activity.