JUVENILE DRUG COURTS AND EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

DRUG COURT / EIP PROFESSIONALS...
SIGNALS (Setting Important Goals Now Against Life-threatening Substances) is a dynamic, cost-effective curriculum that teaches youth the hard-core facts about drugs. It is currently being used successfully in juvenile drug courts as well as early intervention programs, and we wanted to share this with you so you can assess its potential use in your own juvenile drug court settings.

Why It’s Effective
SIGNALS is a substance abuse prevention, intervention, and therapeutic education curriculum for youth ages 12-20. The curriculum addresses Risk Perception Deficit by heightening awareness of the harm of substance use, abuse, and chemical dependence. The unique design of the curriculum raises awareness while at the same time lowering defensive postures and addressing the critical issue of denial. SIGNALS uses a multi-media presentation that features forensic case histories (structured storytelling). The SIGNALS lesson plans present factual, research-based information proven to reduce substance abuse. The case histories include examples of the five major categories of drugs: Stimulants, Depressants, Hallucinogens, Marijuana and Inhalants. Lesson plans also present information on Alcohol and Tobacco.
The SIGNALS curriculum is a pre-contemplative toolkit that enhances all other life skills or refusal skills programming. If you work with youth who are resistant to the non-use message, SIGNALS is a great starting point for creating a rationale in their mind for why they should listen and learn.

What’s Included
SIGNALS consists of 12 easy-to-use lesson plans with a CD-ROM or DVD, instructor presentations, interactive exercises, pre and post academic tests, pre and post screening tools and other teaching methods. Training for instructors is also available. The curriculum addresses the potential destructive consequences of drug use to physical and mental health, family, social relationships, work, school, and crime in the future of young people. The curriculum fits within the Stages of Change framework and is a perfect toolkit for pre-contemplative youth who are not convinced of the harm caused by drug use. SIGNALS was specifically field tested to address the denial issues of high risk youth in a residential treatment center.

Recognition of the Program
In 2007, The SIGNALS program won a U. S. Department of Health and Human Services federal project award as part of their Service to Science Initiative. SIGNALS was one of only 25 programs in the United States to win the “Pilot Evaluation Capacity Building for Evidence-based Interventions” project award.

Take Action
We invite you to visit the SIGNALS website at http://www.signalsprogram.com/Home_Welcome.htm to learn more about this curriculum. We encourage you to share this information with other staff in your program and consider the benefits of providing this program to your youth.

Limited Offer
Until September 30, 2009, you can purchase this curriculum for a special discounted price of $200. Just write “Drug Court / EIP Offer” on your order form. Ordering information is included on the link below and on the website. This makes SIGNALS an even more cost-effective program for you.