• Prevention
• Toolkit
• Strategies
• Intervention
• Treatment

Prevention Services

Prevention services are designed to help South Carolinians of all ages avoid the dangers of using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Services strive to prevent young people from experimenting with these substances, as well as to prevent the development of problems among specific high-risk groups and the public at large. Available in communities throughout South Carolina, prevention services are based upon principles of sound research. Services are designed to identify and reduce factors that place an individual or a community at risk of experiencing problems, while at the same time, strengthening other identifiable factors that can help protect individuals and communities from developing such problems.

• Community Action for a Safer Tomorrow (CAST)
• Community-Based Prevention Services
• FaithWorks
• Infectious Disease Prevention Services
• Preventing Underage Drinking
• Preventing Underage Use of Tobacco
• Retailer and Server Education Programs
• Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program
• South Carolina Prevention Workforce Development Plan
• South Carolina Teen Institute
• South Carolina Toolkit for Evidence-Based Prevention Programs and Strategies
• State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup
• South Carolina Prevention Workforce Development Plan

Community Action for a Safer Tomorrow (CAST)

In July 2009, the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) awarded a Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) to DAODAS. The SPF SIG is a five-year, $10 million grant intended to prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance abuse; reduce substance abuse-related problems; and build prevention capacity and infrastructure at the state and community levels. Eighty-five percent of the funds will be distributed to communities in South Carolina.

The South Carolina SPF SIG has been titled “Community Action for a Safer Tomorrow” (CAST). CAST will address two priority issues: alcohol-related (DUI) car crashes and underage alcohol use. These priority issues are two of four that were identified by the State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) through an intensive prioritization process.

Using a data-driven process and in collaboration with the department's partners, 12 to 18 high-need counties will be identified and funded to address one or more priority areas. State-level staff and funded communities will follow the steps of the SPF to address priority areas; assess prevention needs, build capacity, develop a comprehensive strategic plan, implement evidence-based prevention programs, policies, and practices; and evaluate the process and outcomes. Two cross-cutting components of the SPF are cultural competency and sustainability.

To support these efforts and to build prevention capacity and infrastructure throughout the state, four regional capacity coaches will provide training and technical assistance on the SPF process and other prevention-related topics to funded and non-funded communities. In addition, one full0time staff person will be hired in each funded community. Pre-existing or new community coalitions will be drawn on by funded communities throughout the SPF process, and are expected to be at the heart of CAST activities.

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Community-Based Prevention Services

The department supports broad-based prevention services provided at the local level through the county alcohol and drug abuse authorities. These services are based on the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's six strategy areas: information, education, alternatives, problem identification, community-based process, environmental and referral (generally operated by treatment/intervention services). The county authorities collect and organize data about their respective communities and then plan programs or activities, collaborating with other organizations to address the community's needs. Community-based prevention services are designed to buffer known risk factors and enhance those factors that have been proven effective in protecting individuals, families and communities from the identified risks. For more information about these services, contact your county authority.

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FaithWorks

In January 2000, DAODAS, in collaboration with its statewide network of county alcohol and drug abuse authorities, began creating a new and exciting initiative called FaithWorks. Emerging as a process, FaithWorks is developing an infrastructure among the various faith-based organizations in South Carolina to increase awareness and promote collaboration with alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse prevention, intervention and treatment services and strategies. Another focus of this initiative is increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS within the state's faith community. Through technical assistance, FaithWorks provides consultation regarding local needs assessments, program development, implementation, evaluation and skill development. The initiative's training component provides skills associated with the following core activities: program development; education on alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and HIV/AIDS; youth leadership development; parenting; media literacy; and development of a model for recovering community support groups.

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Infectious Disease Prevention Services

Recognizing the increased health risks for tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and other infectious diseases among individuals who use alcohol and other drugs, the department collaborates extensively with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for a variety of services to address these problems. Specifically, through the use of a TB screening protocol, individuals who receive services through the county authorities and screen positive for TB are referred to the county health departments for further evaluation and treatment. The department also works with DHEC to provide various HIV early intervention services for individuals in treatment, including HIV counseling, testing, referral services and supportive services. In addition, the department funds HIV early intervention services in 10 county authorities identified through a needs assessment process. These include: Aiken, Anderson/Oconee, Charleston, Florence, Greenville, Horry, Lexington/Richland, Orangeburg, Spartanburg and Sumter counties.

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Preventing Underage Drinking

In 1998, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) of the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the department a grant titled "Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws" through which the department seeks to reduce underage drinking and increase enforcement. Underage drinking is a definite problem in our state -- approximately 186,000 youth under 21 drink alcohol each year in South Carolina. The 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated the following of high school students:

• 71% had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more days during their life
• 26% had their first drink of alcohol, other than a few sips, before age 13
• 43% had at least one drink of alcohol on one or more occasions in the past 30 days
• 24% had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row in the past 30 days

In 2005, South Carolina’s underage drinking problem totaled $228 million in alcohol sales, or 12.2% of all of the alcohol consumed in the state (Underage Drinking in South Carolina: The Facts, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation [PIRE], 2006).

In South Carolina, the cost of underage drinking is $899 million, which translates to $2,203 per year for each youth in the state (Underage Drinking in South Carolina: The Facts, PIRE, 2006).  The following chart details the costs of underage drinking by problem in South Carolina:

Source: Underage Drinking in South Carolina: The Facts, PIRE, March 2004

Research indicates that young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent.  They are two and a half times more likely to become abusers of alcohol than those who do not drink until they are 21 (Grant, B.F. & Dawson, D.A. Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse. 9:103-110. 1997). By providing a mechanism, such as stringent enforcement with swift consequences, communities can have an impact on youth who are drinking before the minimum legal age of 21.

Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL)

In January 2006, four county alcohol and drug abuse authorities were awarded funding to build and increase efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking in their communities using the Alcohol Enforcement Team (AET) model.  The four sites were located in Barnwell, Clarendon, Spartanburg and York counties.  These four sites are being mentored by the alcohol and drug abuse authorities in Florence and Lexington/Richland counties, as these sites have experience and have been working in the area of underage drinking prevention for the past six years.  The EUDL funding has also allowed the implementation of a statewide comprehensive media campaign and the expansion of the state's national award-winning AET initiative to prevent and reduce underage drinking. 

Accomplishments of the AET sites in 2006-2007:

• 480 merchants received training through the Palmetto Retailers Education Program (PREP) in the six funded sites.
• 1,012 compliance checks were conducted, with more than 200 violations written.
• 2,000 merchant newsletters were distributed.
• 2,650 parent newsletters/resource guides were distributed.
• 10,500 brochures on youth alcohol laws were distributed.

Alcohol Enforcement Teams (AETs)

Coupled with an active public education and prevention strategy, AETs are intended to implement evidence-based environmental strategies to reduce underage alcohol use and its harmful consequences. Enforcement of existing laws to restrict use and access by youth is one of the most useful tools in prevention, and prevention agency/law enforcement partnerships can lead to some of our most powerful and sustainable outcomes.  (See www.udetc.org/documents/strategies.pdf.)

The AET model, which includes community coalition maintenance and development, merchant education, and law enforcement partnership, specifies a multi- or single-jurisdictional alcohol law enforcement approach (depending on the needs and participation of law enforcement within the target area) in a community to:

• reduce youth access to alcohol utilizing various strategies (social and retail access);
• measure, track and improve merchant compliance with alcohol laws;
• provide research-based merchant education;
• build community support for enforcement of underage drinking laws through media advocacy and community coalition maintenance and development; and
• develop local law enforcement support for underage drinking prevention and enforcement efforts.

On June 22, 2007, the South Carolina General Assembly agreed to H3620, the Appropriations Act of 2007/2008.  The funding for DAODAS included $1.6 million in non-recurring funds, based on judicial circuits, to support AET activities between the county alcohol and drug abuse authorities and multi-jurisdictional law-enforcement agencies. These activities will be interpreted broadly by DAODAS to include a range of underage drinking activities. However, the department is recommending an emphasis on evidence-based underage drinking activities, including comprehensive law enforcement compliance checks, party patrols, merchant education, and publicity of such activities through the news media.

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Preventing Underage Use of Tobacco

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 38.6% of South Carolina youth in grades nine through 12 are current smokers, a rate that is higher than the national average. As a result, the department has made a major commitment to preventing underage tobacco use by encouraging retailers to comply with state laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors. Through the annual Youth Access to Tobacco Study, the department monitors the state's compliance with the Synar Regulation of the federal Public Health Service Act of 1993. The Synar Regulation is a federal mandate that requires each state to document a rate of tobacco sales to minors of no more than 20% by the year 2000. As part of the study, youth ages 14 to 17 visit convenience stores, grocery stores, drug stores, other retail outlets and vending machines and attempt to purchase cigarettes. The number and rate of cigarette sales to underage youth is documented by county, type of sales outlet, and demographics of the youth and sellers. The department also works to prevent underage use of tobacco products through retailer education. For more information on these efforts, see Retailer and Server Education Programs.

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Retailer and Server Education Programs

The department provides retailer and server education through PREP (Palmetto Retailers Education Program) developed by Circle Park Behavioral Health Services (Florence County's alcohol and drug abuse authority) and LRADAC, The Behavioral Health Center of the Midlands. The program is designed to modify the environment in which tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed. Activities range from educating bartenders about the importance of low-risk alcoholic beverage service to encouraging establishments to offer non-alcoholic beverage promotions to training servers and retailers to screen for false identification in an effort to detect underage consumers. For more information about PREP or to set up a retailer or server education program in your community, contact your county alcohol and drug abuse authority or visit the PREP web page.

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Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program

The department administers the Governor's portion of the funds allocated to South Carolina through the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) Program. Through this effort, grants are awarded each year to community organizations for local prevention programs that target youth throughout the state.

Click here to view the recipients of SDFSC funds for fiscal year 2008.

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South Carolina Prevention Workforce Development Plan

Prevention workforce development is essential to improving – and maintaining – competent and well-prepared professionals and support personnel to conduct the important work of preventing problem behaviors among youth. One of the greatest barriers to an effective workforce is turnover. Turnover is also costly – an average of $20,282 each time a prevention specialist leaves to find another job. According to a 2005 survey of South Carolina’s prevention workforce, workers are becoming frustrated at the lack of salary and professional-advancement opportunities. In addition, the field of prevention is becoming more complex as research begins to inform practice.

South Carolina's workforce development plan – the product of approximately three years of work – was created under the auspices of the joint Prevention Subcommittee of DAODAS and Behavioral Health Services Association of South Carolina Inc. (BHSA). The components and overall report have been reviewed with local prevention staff on a multitude of occasions. No other state has a more comprehensive look at prevention workforce development. To view the Prevention Workforce Development Plan, click here. ( *You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the plan.).

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South Carolina Teen Institute

The department supports the Teen Institute, a statewide, yearlong prevention program designed to teach teams of high school students (each consisting of four to eight students and an adult advisor) how to get involved in local prevention activities. Managed by Circle Park Behavioral Health Services (Florence County's alcohol and drug abuse authority), this program begins each summer as the teams participate in weeklong training sessions where they develop plans for local prevention activities to be carried out during the ensuing school year. The program continues throughout the year as the teams implement a variety of prevention activities in their local schools and communities. Teen Institute participants also take part in a one-day reunion held during the year at which time they share progress on local activities.

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South Carolina Toolkit for Evidence-Based Prevention Programs and Strategies

The South Carolina Toolkit for Evidence-Based Prevention Programs and Strategies was created in 2001 as a convenient resource on evidence-based programs and environmental strategies for individuals who are interested in substance abuse prevention. A joint product of DAODAS and the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), the Toolkit has quickly become one of the most valued resources in the field of prevention. The Toolkit contains in-depth information on more than 60 prevention programs with proven effectiveness, as well as dozens of environmental strategies for addressing underage alcohol and tobacco use. To view the Toolkit, click here.

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State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup

The South Carolina State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) was established in May 2006 through a grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.  The workgroup is responsible for reviewing existing data on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs to identify related problems or issues.  The workgroup is also responsible for monitoring data to identify trends in substance use or abuse. 

In 2007, the SEOW created the first draft of its flagship document, the South Carolina Profile on Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Substance Related Indicators, commonly known as the "state epidemiological profile."  This report includes graphs and tables that depict the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in South Carolina during recent years, along with the associated consequences of that use.  Updates of the state profile were completed in 2008 and 2009.  To view the 2009 state profile, click here.  ( *You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the 2009 state profile.)

The following agencies or organizations are represented on the SEOW:  DAODAS, Behavioral Health Services Association of South Carolina Inc., S.C. Budget and Control Board, State Department of Education, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, S.C. Department of Mental Health, S.C. Department of Public Safety, and the University of South Carolina (USC).  Workgroup members bring great expertise from their professional roles, such as planning and research coordinator, surveillance and evaluation coordinator, epidemiologist, data analyst, substance abuse treatment/prevention consultant and executive director, and program manager/coordinator.

Since its inception, the SEOW has worked to coordinate college drinking information through a common survey.  It has also coordinated the development of a county-level epidemiological profile for each county in South Carolina.

As part of its overarching goal to monitor and analyze alcohol-, tobacco- and other drug-related trends, the SEOW has created three datasheets that indicate a significant association exists between academic performance and substance use. Each datasheet focuses on specific substances for which students have reported past or current use:  alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs. ( *You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the datasheets.)

Please contact Crystal Gordon at cgordon@daodas.state.sc.us or (803) 896-7228 with questions or comments regarding the workgroup.

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