'JUST SAY NO' TO D.A.R.E.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) isn't alone when he says the
national D.A.R.E. program is a waste of money. In fact, those who think the
program isn't effective are growing in numbers and some police departments
across the country are dropping the program that began in Los Angeles in 1983.

However, locally, Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said D.A.R.E., or Drug
Abuse Resistance Education, is a program "near and dear to his heart" and
he would fight every day to keep it intact. The school system also said the
program has positive results in Loudoun County.

"For every Web site you find that says D.A.R.E. doesn't work you can find
one that says D.A.R.E. does work," Simpson said. "I personally have had
hundreds and hundreds of parents over the years as we go speak at these
D.A.R.E. graduations tell us how much of an impact it had on their families."

In a stack of documents Delgaudio gave to those in attendance for the board
of supervisor's first budget meeting last week, most of the materials were
copied from the organization led by his Republican colleague, Supervisor
Lori Waters (Broad Run), who is executive director of the Eagle Forum.

Last week, Waters said some D.A.R.E. programs work and some don't, but that
Loudoun's program needs an assessment to gauge any benefits to students.
According to the Eagle Forum's Web site, it appears the organization
supports deleting the program from local budgets nationwide.

There have been studies out of Chicago, Kentucky and Colorado by the
federal government that state there have been little or no effective
results from the program.

In Loudoun, there are 3,400 fifth grade students who are taught the
program. In the FY 2005 budget, the D.A.R.E. program cost $56,000 for
operations and $443,000 for six full-time deputies who teach the program.
There are 39 schools in which D.A.R.E. is taught. Simpson said it would be
impossible to implement a suggestion by Waters to combine D.A.R.E. officers
with school resource officers because the departments provide different
functions.

"I guess maybe they don't understand it," Simpson (R) said about the two
Republican supervisors. "They are the only ones that opposed it.
Delgaudio's kids go to private school and [Waters] doesn't have any kids.
Maybe they don't have a vested interest in the process so they are looking
at ways of saving money and maybe they see this as a way of saving money."

Neither Delgaudio nor Waters returned phone calls or e-mails this week to
comment on this report.

A study of Loudoun schools completed this year showed that students have a
lower perceived risk of drug use than their national peers, meaning Loudoun
students are more likely to see drug use as a risky behavior. It's an
indicator that some could say proves the D.A.R.E. program is working in
Loudoun County.

"Certainly one of the benefits is that [D.A.R.E. officers] are able to
describe to students some realistic situations which help [students] with
some refusal skills," said LCPS Assistant Superintendent for Instruction
Sharon Ackerman. "They also can talk to them about making good choices in
their lives. They are really the best ones to do this."

Another benefit of D.A.R.E., Ackerman said, is that students see police
officers and deputies in a positive light, showing human qualities that
they may not otherwise see when law enforcement officers are in the field.
Ackerman said the school system has investigated the program's objectives
and, where it overlapped with other curriculum, such as material taught in
health courses, the school system reduced the number of lessons. She also
said that the course evaluations returned to D.A.R.E. officers at the end
of the year are "very positive."

"So it really is the best fit for us," she said. "We know there's been
various research out there. You can find studies that say it is effective
and you can find studies that say it's not. And you would never know unless
you had a way to look at the same kid and say 'What would you have done if
we did not have this intervention.'"

However, in a suburb south of Chicago, IL, of about 15,000 residents, the
police chief of Chicago Ridge deleted the program--one of the first actions
he took when hired three years ago. Chicago Ridge Police Chief Tim
Balderman said his jurisdiction was one of the first communities to delete
the program. He said one of the reasons he believed the program was
ineffective was because he did not see a decrease in drug arrests among
school aged children. The program was more about "selling T-shirts and
softballs and using the slogan 'Just Say No,'" rather than penetrating more
serious issues that affect students in any particular community, he said.
Huntington Beach, CA, has also dropped the program.

"It really doesn't make any sense," Balderman said about the program.
"D.A.R.E. has a set formula and they give you the book and you have to
follow it whether you are in a very affluent community or a very poor
community. Whether your community is faced with one particular problem or
another, you've got to follow this book to the letter and it doesn't make
any sense. It's just ridiculous."

Balderman said Chicago Ridge has a large Arab population and has the
highest percentage of multi-family dwellings in Cooke County, IL, with
nearly 70 percent. With 1,400 students in grades K-8, Balderman said there
are 17 different languages spoken. D.A.R.E. did not prove to be effective
for the diverse student body.

"It wasn't about the money," he said. "It was about effectiveness and about
providing something for our community and D.A.R.E. didn't do it." Balderman
said he started new programs, like Character Counts, that he believes will
be more beneficial for students. "We discuss everything under the sun, not
just what D.A.R.E. is telling us."

"I've talked to a lot of chiefs," Balderman said. "They know D.A.R.E. is
not working but they feel it would be a public relations nightmare if they
dropped it. I'll take the heat if that's what I've got to do."

Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said the D.A.R.E. program should be
left alone. He said there really is not a way to gauge if D.A.R.E. is
working, calling it an "undecidable question."

"I think anything you do in that area is good," he said. "I don't put much
stock in scientific studies that say it did or did not prevent [drug use]
because you just don't know. Any program that shows a presence and brings
the subject up in front of the kids is a good thing."