University of Vermont Extension has received a five-year, $518,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand a program aimed at sixth and seventh grade Vermonters proven to reduce risky behavior in youth.
The Children, Youth and Families at Risk grant, from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within USDA, will fund a program called PROSPER, for Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience.
The grant will enable Extension to continue its PROSPER program at Lyndon Town School in Lyndonville, where it has been in place for just over two years, and extend it to Mount Anthony Union Middle School in Bennington.
The PROSPER program builds youth competencies and improves family functioning aimed at preventing behavior problems, particularly substance use, in sixth and seventh graders through the work of an engaged team of community members, including parents, teachers and other school personnel, Department of Health representatives and community members.
The program helps teens develop confidence and competency by promoting strong relationships that occur in three dimensions: between parents and children, families and schools, and communities and families. PROSPER engages families during sixth grade, then shifts to an in-school focus during seventh grade.
In 2011, UVM received training in the program from Iowa State University, which co-developed PROSPER with Pennsylvania State University, and used Workforce Development funds to implement it at Lyndon Town School and Camels Hump Middle School, starting in 2013. The Camels Hump program will continue with UVM support, though the demographics of the community made the site ineligible to be supported by the new grant. Camels Hump does receive funds through the Vermont Children’s Trust Fund and was the 2014 MVP Partner in Prevention Grant Award recipient.
Strong research results
According to research conducted by Iowa State and published in the journal Preventive Medicine in 2013, teens involved with the PROSPER program had significantly reduced rates of drug and alcohol use compared with teens not in the program. Teens and young adults who had been through the program also had better relationships with parents, improved life skills and few problem behaviors in general.
“Given the widely reported availability and use of drugs, including opiates, in Vermont, it’s good news that USDA/NIFA is supporting a strengths-based, proven program like PROSPER in the state,” said Douglas Lantagne, dean of UVM Extension. “I know the PROSPER team looks forward to building on its success and to bringing the program to a new Vermont community.“
The principal investigator on the grant is UVM Extension’s Sarah Kleinman, the state director of 4-H. Other members of the team are Ellen Rowe, evaluator; Stephanie Albaugh, technology specialist; Anthony Willey, the Lyndon team lead; and Mindy Hastings, Bennington team lead.
“It’s very gratifying to see our work with PROSPER recognized and supported by NIFA,” she said. “We’re enthusiastic about continuing this important work and broadening its reach, doing our part to stem the tide of drug use and other problem behaviors in Vermont by providing skills to strengthen youth and family relationships in a healthy way.”
Kleinman said the PROSPER program at Lyndon Town School will continue uninterrupted. She expects that the first family program at Mount Anthony Union Middle School will launch in early 2016.
More information about PROSPER can be found at uvm.edu/extension/family/prosper/.