DPS WANTS TO EXPAND SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMS

Denver Public Schools could receive $100,000 for drug- and
alcohol-treatment programs if the City Council approves Mayor Wellington
Webb's request.

John Leslie, DPS head of student services, hopes to use some of the money
to expand a successful high school initiative into middle schools. The
program uses counselors from Arapahoe House with expertise in
substance-abuse treatment.

Every DPS high school has an Arapahoe House counselor on campus either full
or part time. "We use this as an intervention program in lieu of
expulsion," Leslie said. "DPS expulsion rates for substance abuse have been
dropping for three years in a row."

DPS psychologist Gene Jacquez said the service is built around a student's
schedule and is paid for by grants.

The $100,000, if approved, would also be used to expand CASASTART, cited by
Webb as a winning DPS drug- and alcohol-abuse prevention program. CASASTART
emphasizes definitions of success beyond "just saying no" to drugs.

According to program consultant Alana James:

100 percent of CASASTART participants who were in the 8th grade last year
continued on to high school.

After one semester in CASASTART, participants increased their grade point
average by more than a third.

A third of the students lowered unexcused absences significantly from first
to second semesters.

Besides the $100,000 for DPS, Urban Peak and the University of Colorado
Health Sciences Center also could get $225,000 under Webb's plan to house
street youth recovering from heroin addiction. Said Jamie Van Leeuwen of
Urban Peak: "The streets are no place for recovery."

Other drug-abuse prevention programs touted by Webb on Tuesday were Club
Denver, an after-school program run by the Mayor's Office of Education and
Children, and the Nurse Family Partnership at Denver Health Medical Center.

The latter program is part of the city's Best Babies initiative and has 120
infants and toddlers enrolled. The partnership is part of a national
program that has a well-researched history: A 15-year follow-up study
showed a 44 percent reduction in maternal behavioral problems due to the
use of alcohol and drugs, said nurse manager Marti Potter.