Missouri SPIRIT

Missouri School-based Prevention Intervention and Resources Initiative

In 2002, the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (ADA) began an ambitious project to bring prevention professionals and evidence-based violence and substance abuse programs to schools in five selected Missouri school districts throughout the state. The goals of the project, called SPIRIT, are to improve overall school performance, reduce incidents of violence, and to delay the onset of substance use and decrease substance use.

Principals, prevention professionals and teachers have been enthusiasitc about the SPIRIT program and have felt that it has made a positive impact on the school environment and students.

SPIRIT Impact

Within a three-year sample, SPIRIT youth:

*improved their decision-making skills   *became more aware of the dangers of drugs 

*had a significant drop in bullying and shoving/hitting.

Goals of SPIRIT

* To increase every school-age child’s readiness to learn as a result of providing a safe evironment that  is free from the harmful effects of alcohol and substance abuse and violence.

* To delay age of first use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs

* To promote safety in Missouri classrooms by reducing the incidence of substance abuse and related acts of violence

* To provide early intervention for children at greatest risk for substance abuse

* To refer children with substance abuse problems to appropriate treatment services to prevent further adverse consequences

* To ensure that strategies for school-based services are cost-effective, with measureable goals and outcomes

SPIRIT Partners

Missouri Institute of Mental Health

Family Counseling Center, Inc and New Madrid Co Schools

Community Partnership of the Ozarks and Carthage Schools

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and Jennings Schools

Preferred Family Healthcare and Knox Schools

Swope Parkway Health Center and Hickman Mills Schools