Prevention Programs

WASHINGTON -- The Senate began a legislative free-for-all on teen-age violence yesterday, taking advantage of the urgency created by the Colorado school shooting to promote personal and partisan agendas.Republicans unearthed a long-stalled measure that would allow the prosecution of youth offenders as adults, to which they hope to add amendments intended to curb the depiction of violence in movies, music and videos, increase safety in schools and stiffen enforcement of gun laws."We have to recognize our shortcomings and do what we possibly can to correct them," said Sen. Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican who helped put together the GOP package.

In America in the '90s it's practically a given: In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, schools are expected to teach children about drugs.But how effective are school-based drug education and prevention programs? Should you enroll your child in one?According to Harold E. Shinitzky, a psychologist with the Johns Hopkins Hospital, school-based programs are definitely worthwhile -- but only if parents and school administrators have made the right choices."You've probably heard this before: For every dollar spent on drug treatment you save $12 of cost to society," says Shinitzky.

Money collected from substance-abuse offenders in court will be directed toward addicts who can't afford treatment, the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office says.Prosecutors routinely request donations at the conclusion of trials of those convicted of drug and alcohol abuse or drunken driving, said Jerry F. Barnes, Carroll state's attorney."The judges in Carroll County have been very cooperative in directing that donations be made to the substance-abuse fund," Barnes said.The money has been used for awareness and prevention programs.

Two Arnold organizations that created their own substance abuse prevention programs were awarded grants by Anne Arundel County Department of Health's Prevention Services.The Parent-Teen Network, which plans activities for teen-agers and promotes community group and school networks to help prevent drug problems, received $2,500.Since October, the organization has sponsored six workshops in conjunction with the Adult Dare Education Program at Severna Park Elementary School.Camp Blaze was awarded a $5,000 grant for instituting a parent training program that provides sessions on leadership, nurturing and substance abuse prevention through seminars, parent/child interactions and role-playing.

THE ANNE ARUNDEL County Department of Health's Prevention Services division has awarded grants to West County community groups organizing their own substance-abuse prevention programs.The YWCA West County Family Support Center in Odenton received a $4,556 grant to provide classes for parents under 26 who have children younger than 4.The classes help young parents with coping skills, and teach methods of effective discipline and of developing nurturing relationships with their children.The center also provides weekly discussion groups, role playing and activities to help parents develop self-confidence and learn ways of reducing stress.

Many opponents of the crime bill that was denied an up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives last week ridicule it for its crime prevention titles, especially so-called "midnight basketball." But what's wrong with a program that would offer youths in poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods recreational facilities? Or after-school cultural activities? Or job training? Or drug counseling?Many Republicans who voted against the crime bill (on a procedural motion) in an effort to kill it, say they're for law 'n' order, but not for "pork," which they inaccurately label such prevention programs.

WASHINGTON -- Remember midnight basketball?Scornful Republicans who are taking over the House of Representatives do, and they are planning to reopen this year's angry debate over federal funding for crime-prevention measures in hopes of getting rid of midnight basketball and other so-called prevention programs.The House GOP's "Contract With America" calls for a $5 billion cut in prevention programs that were in cluded in this year's hard-won $30 billion crime bill.Republicans want to see fewer dollars for Democratic "social welfare programs" and more in flexible block grants "to the communities that have the highest crime rates," said Rep. Bill McCollum, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and one of three candidates running for House majority whip.

House Republicans yesterday called for $143 million in cuts from the governor's proposed budget, including reductions in Medicaid and prevention programs and 1,000 state jobs that the GOP says are vacant."

Has the state of Maryland recovered sufficiently from the recession to absorb a 4.3 percent increase in state spending? Officials in the Schaefer administration think so, but legislators had better survey this $12.7 billion budget with a microscope. The last thing this state needs is another miscalculation that creates a huge deficit almost as soon as the budget is approved.The babble of budget bureaucrats makes it difficult to get a true picture of what's going on. The overall budget is indeed up by 4.3 percent, even though the growth in revenue is projected to rise only 2.3 percent.

SOPHIA, the mother of three, works six days a week as a chamber maid in a Baltimore hotel. She receives no government benefits and spends three-fourths of her salary on rent.Her company offers no health insurance, and she and her three children struggle to make ends meet. Now her youngest has started crying from the pain of an awful earache. So Sophia faces the choice of taking her daughter to a doctor and paying for medication or paying this month's rent. All over Maryland families are having to make these choices.

Even as the debate over health care reform reaches a fever pitch, significant questions about the future of public health and medicine in our nation remain unanswered. From public options to universal access, proposals and plans to help Americans live longer and healthier lives are seemingly all on the table, and yet amid all these ideas, an absolutely necessary part of our public health future - prevention - seems to be lost in the shuffle. The simple act of changing our lifestyle for the better can dramatically improve our quality of life and lessen our health care expenses, and it's a renewed emphasis on prevention programs that will bring true reform to our health care system.

Maryland currently spends about 60 percent of the minimum recommended by the federal government on tobacco prevention programs - less than a tenth of what tobacco companies spend on marketing in the state, according to a new analysis by anti-smoking groups. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest the state spend $30.3 million on tobacco prevention, Maryland spends $18.4 million, according to the report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

WASHINGTON -- More people in the United States are infected each year with the AIDS virus than previously thought, according to federal health officials, in a finding that could roil the debate over how much money should be spent on prevention efforts. While the new numbers are sobering, no one is yet sure whether more people have actually been infected in recent years or the figures are simply a better estimate than the old ones. Two more years of data are needed to answer that question.

According to a new report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Maryland spends about 60 percent of what it should be spending on efforts to get teenagers to stay away from cigarettes. That makes us 15th among the states, which puts us in the top of the middle third of the pack -- an improved position from the last survey, but hardly the best we could do. If the incoming governor and General Assembly raised the cigarette tax a buck a pack, Maryland might at least push into the proud top 10. The latest report, released Wednesday, looked at whether states are adequately funding prevention and cessation programs, as they had promised to do in the late 1990s.

If a youth gets in serious trouble in Maryland, the state can confine him in a secure facility where he can basically learn how to become a better criminal. Despite promises to the contrary, the state still puts too little emphasis on trying to keep at-risk youths from getting in trouble in the first place. The General Assembly is trying to bring more structure to the state's prevention efforts, and the governor's office should make a real commitment to provide adequate funds. Last year, the Department of Juvenile Services received about 55,000 referrals for delinquents.

THE HIGHLY suspect prosecution of the former head of the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention came to an end this week - with the dismissal of all charges against Stephen P. Amos. The interim U.S. attorney for Maryland, Allen F. Loucks, did what his predecessor, Thomas M. DiBiagio, should have done months ago. The case dragged on for more than two years with little to show for it but Mr. Amos' indictment. And now it appears that the crux of the government's case - that Mr. Amos misused federal funds for state crime prevention programs - was flawed.

For the past 15 years, juvenile offenders in Baltimore County have seen firsthand the devastation caused by alcohol- and drug-related accidents by touring Maryland Shock Trauma Center at the end of a five-week class. Those involved in the tours said they have helped wayward teens get back on track. But now, the Baltimore County Health Department is eliminating the tours, for reasons that are not quite clear. Ellen R. Clayton, the county's deputy health officer, said the program was "not necessarily proving effective."

In America in the '90s it's practically a given: In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, schools are expected to teach children about drugs.But how effective are school-based drug education and prevention programs? Should you enroll your child in one?According to Harold E. Shinitzky, a psychologist with the Johns Hopkins Hospital, school-based programs are definitely worthwhile -- but only if parents and school administrators have made the right choices."You've probably heard this before: For every dollar spent on drug treatment you save $12 of cost to society," says Shinitzky.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate began a legislative free-for-all on teen-age violence yesterday, taking advantage of the urgency created by the Colorado school shooting to promote personal and partisan agendas.Republicans unearthed a long-stalled measure that would allow the prosecution of youth offenders as adults, to which they hope to add amendments intended to curb the depiction of violence in movies, music and videos, increase safety in schools and stiffen enforcement of gun laws."We have to recognize our shortcomings and do what we possibly can to correct them," said Sen. Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican who helped put together the GOP package.

Money collected from substance-abuse offenders in court will be directed toward addicts who can't afford treatment, the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office says.Prosecutors routinely request donations at the conclusion of trials of those convicted of drug and alcohol abuse or drunken driving, said Jerry F. Barnes, Carroll state's attorney."The judges in Carroll County have been very cooperative in directing that donations be made to the substance-abuse fund," Barnes said.The money has been used for awareness and prevention programs.