GRANT TO BE USED TO TACKLE YOUTH SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Kids who end up in serious trouble with the law often have been abusing
drugs or alcohol for years, and the state says they don't always get needed
help.

A local group is getting a big boost toward tackling the problem.

The United Way of Anchorage has been awarded a grant for nearly $234,000
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The money will pay for a year of
planning changes in how schools, courts, law enforcement, juvenile
authorities, social service organizations and treatment programs handle
children who show tendencies of substance abuse. The project is called
Strengthening Circles.

"It is really looking at innovative ways to change the system. We don't
just want a new treatment program," said Barbara Henjum, associate
superintendent of McLaughlin Youth Center, the state's largest juvenile
detention and treatment facility.

A 1999 study found that 61 percent of the youths incarcerated at McLaughlin
had used alcohol by age 12, and 65 percent had tried marijuana.

The Anchorage award was one of 11 nationwide announced Monday as part of a
$21 million, five-year project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to
help communities build solutions to youth substance abuse and delinquency.
Some 280 communities applied for the money.

After a year of planning, the 11 communities can receive additional grants
of as much as $250,000 for each of the next four years.

In Anchorage, the effort was started more than a year ago by Children's
Court Master William Hitchcock and a juvenile justice working group that he
leads.

Kids who don't get the right help early may end up in worse trouble later,
Henjum said. The fix becomes more expensive once a child is confined in a
place like McLaughlin.

During the first year of the grant, the Anchorage project team will hold
focus groups for youths, their parents and others to hear about their
experiences in the juvenile justice and treatment systems.

The Anchorage group hopes to get organizations who work with kids to use
the same questionnaire to screen for signs of substance abuse. A high
school assistant principal should ask kids the same questions as the
neighborhood nonprofit about whether their friends use drugs, whether they
do and how often.

The grant money will pay for public awareness advertisements, marketing for
the focus groups, a coordinator, office space and various startup costs.