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University receives $9.9 million grant to help youth avoid problems
	Penn State has received a $9.9 million federal grant to develop community partnerships that strengthen families and help young people avoid substance abuse and behavioral problems.   The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded $21,111,085 to Iowa State University and Penn State to collaborate with local communities on the PROSPER project. PROSPER stands for PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience. The five-year PROSPER project will involve about 10,000 youth in 28 communities throughout Pennsylvania and Iowa. Penn State’s grant will be housed in the College of Health and Human Development.   “Children and youth are our nation’s most valuable resource,” Dr. Theodore R. Alter, associate vice president for outreach and director of Cooperative Extension at Penn State, said. “Unfortunately, a significant number are at risk because of substance use and other social problems. Schools alone can’t solve these complex problems. What can make a difference are partnerships involving university extension staff, schools, families and other concerned local citizens.”   The PROSPER project will support the development of local partnership teams in seven Pennsylvania school districts. The teams—made up of school leaders, cooperative extension staff, parents, community leaders, students and health and social service providers—will identify needs and offer scientifically tested programs to improve the health and well-being of middle-school and high-school students. In seven other Pennsylvania school districts, local teams will receive technical assistance to implement similar programs following a three-year waiting period.   Project director Dr. Mark T. Greenberg, holder of the Edna Peterson Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research in the College of Health and Human Development, said the need for the project is clear.   “The prevalence of youth substance abuse and related problems in both rural and urban areas is alarming,” Greenberg said. “Well-designed programs can strengthen skills that young people and their families need to resist substance use and social and behavioral problems. Economic analyses show the programs are a good investment of public dollars.”   PROSPER is intended to be a model for a national network of partnerships, Greenberg added. The project also will examine ways to sustain the local programs after grant funding has ended.   President Graham Spanier said, “PROSPER is a very innovative project that demonstrates the University’s engagement with schools and communities. This research will greatly increase our understanding of the needs of youth.”   The leaders of the PROSPER project in Pennsylvania are Greenberg, director of the Prevention Research Center, and Dr. Karen Bierman, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and director of the Children, Youth and Families Consortium. Penn State Prevention Research Center   The Prevention Research Center in the College of Health and Human Development opened in 1998 following the establishment of the Edna Peterson Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research. Dr. Mark T. Greenberg is the center’s director and the first holder of the chair. The overarching goal of the center is to promote healthy child development and reduce the prevalence of high-risk behaviors and poor outcomes for children, youth and families.   Located on the University Park campus, the Prevention Research Center also has offices and staff in Harrisburg and York. The center employs more than 40 full-time faculty and staff, in addition to graduate students and adjunct faculty from other University colleges and departments. Currently, 23 projects totaling more than $12 million in grant funding are under way at the center.   The activities of the Prevention Research Center include conducting basic, developmental research on risk and protective factors and their role in youth and child outcomes, conducting large-scale field trials of innovative prevention models, collaborating with Pennsylvania communities to design, implement and evaluate preventive interventions for children, youth and families, and coordinating prevention research within the college and across University units.   In addition to these research functions, the Prevention Research Center is actively involved in advancing prevention science through the provision of training seminars for faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and through the funding of prevention fellowships for advanced postdoctoral training.   The Prevention Research Center is also committed to outreach. This includes provision of policy-relevant information on best practices in prevention to state, federal and local governments. In addition, Prevention Research Center faculty and staff provide consultation and technical assistance to local communities around the development, implementation and evaluation of community-based prevention programs.   The Prevention Research Center collaborates closely with several other University entities, including the Department of Human Development and Family Studies within the College of Health and Human Development, the Children, Youth and Families Consortium and the Cooperative Extension System in the College of Agricultural Sciences. For more information, visit the Web at www.prevention.psu.edu.
© 2002 Outreach Communications,   Outreach & Cooperative Extension,   The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108,   fax: (814) 863-2765,   e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu