MCPIK Awarded Federal Grant to Mentor Children of Prisoners

Prevention Is Key was recently awarded a three year federal grant to provide mentoring services to children of incarcerated parents in the region of Hunterdon, Morris and Passaic county. The Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) Project is a collaborative effort between MCPIK, (as the lead agency), Hunterdon Prevention Resources, NORWESCAP and Empowerment Solutions. The Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program is funded through the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. MCPIK competed nationally in a pool of nearly 1000 applicants to receive one of 84 individual awards to provide this much needed program to the regions most at risk youth. New staff members, Paul Halpern, M.Ed., MCP Program Coordinator and Kristin Vincent, Project Assistant have joined the agency and will be leading this effort along with staff from our collaborative partners.

To get more information about this new initiative or volunteer to be a mentor please contact Paul or Kristin at 973-625-1998 or via email at: PHalpern@mcpik.org or KVincint@mcpik.org.

Military Family Night Out Begins in January 2011

For  The  Toughest  Job  You’ll  E ver Have...Being  A  Parent!

Prevention Is Key will be hosting a Military Family Night Out starting in January 2011 featuring the award winning Strengthening Families Program. If you’re a military family with a child between 6 – 14 years of age, this is a great fun program for you. Program Highlights include:

·    Based on the nationally researched program, Strengthening Families

·    Program Free of Charge

·    Family Dinner provided at each session

·    Gifts/Incentives for participating

·    Babysitting services available for younger siblings 

This program provides skill-building sessions and fun family activities that will help:

•   Parents/Caregivers

·        Encourage good behavior

·        Protect against substance abuse

•   Youth

·        Deal with stress

·        Handle Peer Pressure

•   Family

·        Build family communication

·        Understand family values

 To have your family participate of for more information, please call:
Barbara Kauffman at 973-625-1998 or via email at BKauffman@mcpik.org

WISE and Take Control of Your Health Starting in Multiple Locations Throughout Morris

The Wellness Initiative for Senior Education (WISE) Program celebrates healthy aging and educates older adults so they are less likely to experience problems associated with alcohol and medications and more likely to make positive lifestyle choices as they age. We provide older adults with the information and resources they need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and feel empowered about their health and the health care they receive. This program is generously funded through a grant from the NJ State Office of faith Based Initiatives

Take Control of Your Health, aka The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program,  is a Stanford University developed workshop where people with different chronic diseases attend together. It teaches the skills needed in the day-to-day management of treatment and to maintain and/or increase life’s activities.This program is generously funded through a grant from the NJ State department of health and Senior Services.

WISE and take Control programs are currently underway in The St. Clare's Hospital in Dover and the Rockaway Township Health Department. New programs are scheduled to start after the first of the year at Horizons Senior Living and again in Rockaway Township If you or someone you know are interested in participating in WISE or Take Control of Your health, please contact Barb Kauffman at Morris County Prevention is Key, 973-625-1998 or bkauffman@mcpik.org.

Morris County Parent/ Youth Summit: December 9th

Prevention Is Key along with numerous collaborative partners is sponsoring The Morris County Parent / Youth Summit for 2010. Scheduled for December 9th at the Meadow Wood Manor in Randolph, this years event is titled "Queen Bees and Wannabes: Navigating the Realities of Girl World and Boy World and will be presented by noted author Rosalind Wiseman. Ms. Wiseman, author of New York Times bestselling book Queen Bees and Wannabes will guide parents and teens through the transformations in the adolescent landscape over the past several years, outlined in the revised and updated edition of her groundbreaking book.

Pre-registration is REQUIRED for this event! 

To register please call 1-866-782-5273 before December 3rd.

Collaborative Problem Solving Workshop A Big Success

Prevention Is Key, along with collaborative partners including St. Clare's Behavioral Health, Morris Sussex CMO, Family Support Organization of Morris/Sussex and NAMI, presented a community workshop, An Overview of Collaborative Problem Solving on November 8. The workshop was facilitated by Alicia Stevenson of NAMI and was hosted at the Caring Partners facility in Mt. Arlington. Over 60 professionals and community members attended this outstanding  presentation and came away with invaluable strategies for more effectively dealing with children possessing behavioral, social and emotional challenges.

NSE Selected to Present at the 21st National Leadership Forum in DC

New Social Engine (NSE) has been selected to present at this years Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) conference in February 2011 in Washington, DC. Student leaders from each campus group along with Program Coordinator Dave Bratton will deliver a best practices workshop to a national audience of over 3,000 attendees on the NSE model and experience as it relates to reducing the consequences of high risk and underage alcohol consumption among the 18 to 25 year old population using an environmental prevention approach.

CADCA is a national membership organization of over 5,000 anti-drug coalitions, each working to make their community safe, healthy, and drug-free. For more information on CADCA and the National Leadership Conference visit their website at  CADCA.org

New Social Engine Roars to Life in Fall Semester

New Social Engine (NSE) groups at the area colleges and universities reconvened after a summer hiatus and have come to life with a roar! "We hit the ground running this fall", project coordinator Dave Bratton reflected. Since the fall semester convened in late August, the Drew, FDU and CCM campus NSE chapters have sponsored over sixteen (16) major alcohol free events with participation totaling nearly three thousand (3,000) students. This is not including the monthly NSE coalitions meetings and leadership round tables. The massive impact this initiative has had on the college community has not gone unrecognized by the university staff. "NSE has made a noticeable difference here", a FDU administrative staff member commented recently. Other positive feedback has been that this years college opening was one of the quietest on record. Besides gaining a significant loyal membership NSE has also made an impact on school policy. In little more than a year since its inception the NSE groups have begun to impact the substance use policies of each of their campuses. 

To read more about the group and their recent events, check out these articles in the college newspapers: 

http://www.drewacorn.com/life-arts/weekend-nightlife-comes-to-drew-1.1577167

http://www.drewacorn.com/life-arts/how-to-get-high-naturally-1.1602714

http://www.drewacorn.com/life-arts/humans-vs-zombies-1.1436262

http://themetrofdu.com/blog1/2010/10/04/comedian-discusses-natural-high/

http://themetrofdu.com/blog1/2010/10/04/nse%E2%80%88pool-party-makes-a-splash/

http://themetrofdu.com/blog1/2010/09/20/new-beginnings-at-fall-club-fair/

New Social Engine (NSE) is an initiative of Morris County Prevention is Key and is funded through the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF-SIG), a program designed to prevent and reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol use among 18-25 year olds in Morris County's Collegiate Community. For more information please contact Dave Bratton at 973-625-1998 or dbratton@mcpik.org.www.newsocialengine.com

County-Wide Recovery Month Celebration

 

On September 23, 2010 Morris County Prevention Is Key collaborated with the Market Street Mission to host Morris County's first annual county-wide Recovery Month Celebration. Twenty-one partner community organizations joined MCPIK at the Morristown Green to offer information about addiction, prevention, treatment and recovery services. Keynote speakers included MC Freeholder John Murphy, Morris Township Mayor Scott Rosenbush, a member of the local recovery community as well as an open mic opportunity for other community members to share their personal stories of recovery. Legislators, addiction and prevention professionals and community members all expressed their great appreciation for the event and looked forward to participating again next year.