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Intervention

Project PACE (Participation And Cooperation in Education) is a prevention program designed to prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug by providing a series of intensive interventions to at-risk fourth grade students and their families. The interventions, grouped by domain, increase protective factors and reduce risk factors. They include

• Individual—weekly student groups in school, regular individual student meetings with a prevention specialist, in-home family meetings, monthly student field trips, family activities, residential overnight summer camp, weekend overnight retreats, and involvement in recreational, community service, and social activities.
• Family—in-home family meetings, family activities, parent education group meetings, parent participation in student residential camp experience, field trips and cultural events, counseling, and casework services/referrals relating to such basic needs as employment, education, English as a Second Language programs, food stamps, and Medicaid.
• School—a buddy system created to support program families’ participation/attendance at PTA and other school meetings, prevention specialists serving as liaisons/ombudspersons between families and school, and district advisory councils to empower parents (especially minority parents).
  

Evaluation

The evaluation used a true experimental pretest–posttest control group design. Sixty-four at-risk multicultural youths (and an equal number of control youths) were randomly selected from a pool of current third graders in Huntington, N.Y. The youths were identified and ranked according to risk factor scores. Program youths and families received the intensive services of the PACE program for 1 year. PACE staff provided the following intervention strategies:

• In-school weekly sessions (twice a week per classroom per school)
• Individual student meetings with prevention specialists
• Participant involvement in recreational, community, and social activities
• Weekend overnight retreats and summer camp
• In-home visits with prevention specialists
• Family participation activities including educational programs, overnight camping, field trips, cultural activities, and (if necessary) casework services and referrals
• School/family activities including “Parent Buddy System” at PTA and other school meetings, “Parent Advisory Council,” and “Building Cooperative Support With Schools”
• Conducting opinion /attitude surveys of parents and children program and control groups

Program and control youths were followed for 4 years to determine the long-term effects of the program. Following each program year, students were asked to complete the PACE Student Subjective Evaluation. Parents completed the Parent Subjective Survey instrument. A similar replication project was executed in East Boston, Mass. The Huntington project is compared with both the original Lancaster, Pa., and East Boston projects.

Outcome

Both students and their families reported feeling that the PACE program was beneficial to the students. Although analysis from the evaluation suggests mixed results, several outcomes from participation in the program were favorable:

• A positive impact was made on reducing sixth grade absences.
• Low-risk participants showed increased self-esteem.
• Negative problem behaviors for the high-risk group decreased.

The control group reported substantially more beer use on the posttest.

Endorsements

• SAMHSA: Model Programs

References

Georgiou, Maria, and T. Webster. 2000. Project Pace (Participation and Cooperation in Education): Final Report. Huntington, N.Y.: Huntington Youth Bureau.

Contact

Maria Georgiou, R.C.S.W., Executive Director
Huntington Youth Bureau
423 Park Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
Phone: (631) 351-3061
Fax: (631) 271-1360
E-mail: mgeorgiou@town.huntington.ny.us