The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Foundation creates new youth drug and alcohol program
By Edward Freundl, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: August 28, 2008
A new program has been launched that is aimed at reducing high-risk behavior in 10- to 15-year-olds in Chelsea.
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The Coghlan Family Foundation, co-founded by Michael and Suzanne Coghlan of Saline, has used generous financial resources and creative efforts to bring to life a longtime vision of preventing youth substance abuse in Chelsea.
The program, known as SRSLY ("seriously" as it is spelled in text messages), is a result of the Coghlans' strong interest in preventing teen substance abuse.
The couple had a desire to see a more in-depth, effective program that would also become a model for other communities in curbing teen drinking and drug use.
"My wife and I feel strongly about the negative impact that teen substance abuse has, not only on the individual, but also the community as a whole," said Michael Coghlan.
"We felt it was important for our foundation to find a strong partner that shared our vision - and Chelsea Community Hospital was clearly the right choice."
SRSLY has been developed in collaboration with many local organizations, including the hospital, the Chelsea School District, local law enforcement, area churches, McKune Memorial Library, the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce and concerned parents.
Together, this group of representatives is known as the Chelsea Community Youth Coalition (CCYC).
To focus their efforts, the CCYC formulated a "problem statement," much like a mission statement.
"Alcohol use (including binge drinking) and marijuana use is rising for younger teens," the statement reads.
"Although there's been a long-term decrease in use in high school (HS) grades, the most recent years (2005, 2007) have evidenced increased use by middle-school students and use among HS students that exceeds state or national averages.
"Drug use among Chelsea youth has been linked to a high prevalence of drunk-driving crashes and high-risk sexual behavior, among other problem behaviors."
Dr. Jim O'Neill and his wife, Angela, Chelsea parents and owners of O'Neill Consulting, conducted a needs assessment earlier this summer in order to define the problem and identify key risk factors in this community.
They presented a summary of their findings to the Chelsea School Board on Monday.
The O'Neills have worked with more than 50 schools, community coalitions, and human service agencies in Southeast Michigan.
"Research shows that coalitions are very effective in reducing underage drinking and related youth risk behaviors when multiple sectors of the community offer a variety of prevention strategies," said Jim O'Neill.
According to data collected from a variety of sources, use of alcohol (including binge drinking) and marijuana are on the rise among younger teens in Chelsea.
Recent data show that rates of drinking, smoking marijuana and sexual activity among Chelsea teens and preteens in many cases surpasses county, state and national averages.
Even more worrisome are data that show parental approval of such behavior also exceeding state and national norms.
"Parents are hosting parties for kids thinking that it's a controlled environment, or as long as they take the kids' car keys it's OK; and clearly it's not," Angie O'Neill told school board members.
There is also a perception that there is little or no risk in drug and alcohol use.
"Adolescents are participating in a variety of high-risk behaviors today more than ever," said Andrew Ingall, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Chelsea School District.
"It's not just a problem in their homes or with the schools; we need to work on this together, as a community. This is a great beginning."
School Superintendent Dave Killips said he was glad that groups outside the district were getting involved in the search for solutions.
"It's obviously a concern in this community that needs to be addressed," said Killips.
"I give the hospital a lot of credit for bringing it up, there are a lot of stakeholders in this."
Nancy Siegrist, Director of Behavioral Health Services at Chelsea Community Hospital, has been working with CCYC over the past 18 months while SRSLY has been in development.
"We want people to know that we take the issue of underage drinking and drug use seriously," said Siegrist.
Reiley Lewis, MPH, has been tasked with being Prevention Program Director.
"This September, we will be rolling out a campaign with a clear message that says young people are an important part of this community, and their decisions directly impact their health and safety," Lewis said, adding that the program will focus on the root causes of underage drinking and drug use.
"SRSLY will incorporate elements from prevention programs that have been proven effective in other communities, such as education, skill building, social marketing, enforcement, and creating opportunities for substance-free activities and entertainment," Lewis added.
"The goal is to create environmental change that makes it easy for parents and kids to make healthy choices about drug and alcohol use."
The coalition identified five risk and protective factors they termed as a "priority" for fixing the problem of alcohol and drug use among Chelsea youth, and programming will be designed to address them.
Those factors included the availability of alcohol and/or marijuana, parental approval of drug or alcohol use, youths' commitment to school and opportunities for prosocial involvement.
Angie O'Neill added that it was "exciting to be part of this important initiative."
"This was a natural fit and it was nice that we could do something right in our own community of Chelsea," she said.
"Chelsea has the right mix of resources and dedicated individuals to make this collaborative extremely successful."
For more information about SRSLY, contact Lewis at (734) 475-4078 or rlewis@srslychelsea.org.
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