FAQ #4

Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth (Back to top)

Bringing people, groups and resources together to prevent substance abuse is the focus of Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth. This statewide prevention organization is one of Ohio’s leading resources for helping communities prevent the abuse of alcohol and use of other drugs.

Hope Taft, now First Lady of Ohio, and other Ohioans concerned about substance use among young people founded the organization in 1987. Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth initially focused on educating and supporting parents but has expanded the mission to assist all who are interested in substance abuse prevention.

 For more information, visit their website at http://www.ohioparents.org

Hope Taft, Ohio’s First Lady, called a series of meetings at the Governor’s Residence in Columbus where many good ideas were shared and adopted.  Following Parents’ Day 1999, it was decided to set aside the 3^rd week of September as Ohio Parents’ Week.  Governor Taft issued a proclamation that declared September 17-23, 2000 as Parents’ Week – the first Parents’ Week in Ohio.  The motto—“You Gotta Love Parents”—was adopted.  The purple ribbon came into being (why purple?—purple has always been a sign of royalty, and we think parents are royal people!) The following year, it was decided to move the 3^rd week of September to the 4^th week to coincide with Family Day – Eat Dinner with Your Kids, which is celebrated the 4^th Monday of September. This year, Parents Week will be held September 20-27^th, 2003.

For more information, please visit the “ You Gotta Love Parents” website at http://www.yougottaloveparents.org/

TheAntiDrug.com was created by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to equip parents and other adult caregivers with the tools they need to raise drug-free kids. Working with the nation's leading experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention, TheAntiDrug.com serves as a drug prevention information center, and a supportive community for parents to interact and learn from each other.

The site provides parents and other adult caregivers access to:

• Helpful articles and advice from experts in the fields of parenting and substance abuse prevention;
• Science-based drug prevention information, news and studies;
• Support from other parents striving to keep their children drug-free;
• Perspectives of teens themselves.

For more information, please visit their website at http://www.theantidrug.com/

FAST Program (Back to top)

Following an elementary school or middle school teacher's recommendation, the family of an at-risk child is invited to participate in the program by a FAST parent graduate who conducts home outreach visits. Some schools offer FAST to all children who are enrolled. These schools encourage families to attend a cluster meeting with other families from that school. "Family" is redefined to include all variations of adults raising children. Ten to fifteen families meet for 8 to 10 weekly sessions that include a family meal, singing, and other highly interactive family activities that are enjoyable for both children and parents.

For more information, visit http://www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/9911_2/contents.html