Work done in Kansas to deter the growing problem of alcohol and drug abuse is being looked at on a national level.

Andrew O'Donovan, commissioner of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services (ADAS) for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), has been invited by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to take part in a series of 'think tank' discussions at the foundation headquarters in New Jersey. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a major philanthropic organization providing grants to states and organizations on social issues.

Work from the 'think tank' meetings will be compiled for the foundation's board of directors, O'Donovan said. The group will be studying methods of collecting data on prevention and resource allocation for use nationwide in developing prevention strategies.

For the last four years, Kansas has been a national leader in compiling data on substance abuse prevention. The data collected

identifies risk levels for substance abuse and related problems, leading to targeted funding and organized community prevention strategies.

Using funds from the Federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, SRS already is developing within Kansas and coordinating development in five other states a prevention needs assessment study. SRS/ADAS is serving as the project coordinating center for the other states and agencies involved.

The six-state collaboration seeks to develop a reliable set of risk and protective factors for drug abuse among children, adolescents and adults. The data will be used to guide state, regional, county and community prevention planning.

Many of the problems involving children and adolescents, including crime and violence, relate directly to substance abuse," said Rochelle Chronister, SRS Secretary. Data collected is used to identify then address and minimize the risk factors in our homes, schools, and communities that create unhealthy behavior."

Information on the data collected in this study and how it was used to prevent substance abuse is among the topics to be discussed at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation meetings, set for October. The information is already tremendously valuable as lawmakers and other policy makers search for solutions to the social problems of Kansas, including juvenile crime, teen pregnancy and delinquency.

Using risk indicators as the foundation for designing policies and programs to prevent substance abuse is a promising development in substance abuse prevention," O'Donovan said. As we identify the risk factors for youth problems we develop strategies to build protection for our kids.

We deal with symptoms all the time," Commissioner O'Donovan said. We need to get at the core problems, rather than the symptoms. Identifying and understanding risk factors is the first step toward finding ways to reduce alcohol and drug abuse and related social problems."

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001