NCADD Awarded Safe Dates Grant
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awards NCADD grant for dating violence prevention program.
East Brunswick, July 10, 2008: NCADD of Middlesex County, Inc. has been awarded a $324,000 grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) through its New Jersey Health Initiatives Program to implement the nationally-recognized Safe Dates teen dating violence prevention curriculum in the Carteret School District.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 61% of domestic violence offenders also have substance abuse problems. Cognizant of this fact, NCADD has established the dating violence awareness program to work hand-in-hand with its other prevention goals. Providing the proper tools to develop healthy dating relationships and to prevent dating abuse, the three-year grant will be incorporated into the fabric of PATHWAYS, an NCADD-administered youth services program for the Carteret School District.
“When students speak with one of our counselors, for whatever reason, we are no longer surprised that an underlying cause of their distress is a relationship issue,” said Lauren Balkan, Program Director for PATHWAYS. “What is more important to students in middle and high school than the relationships they have with their family, peers, and budding significant others?”
To further reach out to students, the NCADD will establish both a therapeutic group for students to express their feelings about the issue and an after-school club designed to spread the message at the middle and high schools. Students who participate in PATHWAYS’ summer camp will also have the opportunity to develop a Safe Dates performance to be presented to the school community during October’s Violence Prevention Week.
With these services in place, NCADD plans to reach more than 2,000 students in the first three years of the program alone. NCADD’s Executive Director and CEO Steven Liga also hopes the curriculum will encourage the greater community to talk about the matter. “Reaching youth as they are just beginning to develop significant relationships is critical to their ability to develop patterns that will impact their lives and future families. With the proper tools in place from the start, we can remove one of the leading causes of future substance abuse – an inability to form healthy intimate relationships.”
NCADD of Middlesex County, Inc. is one of eight organizations to have been chosen to implement the Safe Dates program by the RWJF’s New Jersey Health Initiatives Program, which is committed to supporting initiatives that introduce innovative health strategies into local communities. In all, the Foundation reviewed 43 proposals from organizations throughout the state.
For more information, contact Steven Liga at 732-254-3344.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. Helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need- the Foundation expects to make a difference in our lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
Additional information about teen dating abuse may be found at www.loveisrespect.org.
