A unique program of community collaboration established by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) is helping prevent substance abuse and violence among high-risk youth. Currently in 19 sites around the country, CASASTART-- Striving Together to Achieve Rewarding Tomorrows – has been recently designated an exemplary program by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools.

CASASTART was one of nine programs chosen out of the 132 applications nationwide that were reviewed by the panel. DOE selected these programs based on their effectiveness and potential for replication throughout the department's National Education Dissemination System.

The program is a neighborhood-based, school-centered program aimed at preventing substance abuse and delinquency among high-risk adolescents ages 8 to 13 and reducing drug-related crime in their neighborhoods.

To achieve this, the program brings together different organizations including schools, law enforcement, and social service agencies for a collaborative program in which all of the children selected receive eight services: tutoring, after-school activities, mentoring, counseling, family services, community policing, juvenile justice intervention and incentives.

This one-on-one outreach provides children with the personal attention necessary to deal with their special problems and also helps them connect with their community.

CASASTART has sites in the following cities: Los Angeles, Ca, Commerce City and Denver, Co, Bridgeport, Conn, Austin, El Paso, and San Antonio, Tex, Philadelphia, Pa, New York, N.Y. and Washington, DC.

The CASASTART strategy is that if you train everyone involved – law enforcement, social services, schools, families – and have frequent communication and collaboration among all the service providers, the children and their families, fewer children will fall through the cracks.

"These are the kids who usually get kicked out of social and youth development programs, but they are the kids who need these programs the most," said Lawrence Murray, a CASA fellow who oversees CASASTART. "By incorporating the CASASTART program into the school district, you take the kids who are failing, kids who normally don't get to participate in their community because their behavior is seen as so bad," added Murray.

Case managers serve as the linchpin of the CASASTART program

Potentially eligible children are referred to CASASTART case managers by school, social service staff, police or juvenile court personnel. Case managers then determine whether children meet the criteria for those at high risk of substance abuse and crime.

Each case manager works closely on a one-to-one basis with 15 families. In addition to seeking out participants, developing case plans, counseling, coordinating services and making referrals, case managers become involved in a full range of activities including:

• running after-school or recreation programs.
• arranging for and sometimes transporting family members to appointments; helping prevent homelessness or utility shut-offs.
• advocating for children and family members in court.
• helping parents resolve problems with schools or social service agencies.

Once a CASASTART program is set up at a local site, CASA's national staff helps to implement the model by providing training, technical assistance and site visits to assist in raising funds.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is the only national organization that brings together under one roof all the professional disciplines needed to study and combat all types of substance abuse as they affect all aspects of society. CASA's missions are to: inform Americans of the economic and social costs of substance abuse and its impact on their lives; assess what works in prevention, treatment and law enforcement; encourage every individual and institution to take responsibility to combat substance abuse and addiction; provide those on the front lines with tools they need to succeed, and remove the stigma of substance abuse and replace shame and despair with hope.