GUILDERLAND — A new program aimed at preventing drinking and driving for youths while educating them about the risks of alcohol and other drug abuse is now available to the public.

St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center (SPARC), the Albany County Sheriff’s Department, and the Albany County Stop-DWI program have teamed up to create the Youth Assistance Program (YAP) for young adults between the ages of 15 and 22.

Once a week, in 90-minute sessions during a six-week period, those in the program will learn about addiction, how their behavior can lead to problems, and the consequences of such behavior.

Parents, courts, colleges, and police can refer people with drug- or alcohol-related problems to YAP.
"This is really a diversion for those in trouble academically, socially, physically, emotionally and legally," said Denis Foley, administrator of Albany County Stop-DWI. Referring to sentencing for driving-while-intoxicated charges that requires offenders to listen to people who have lost those they love to drunk-driving crashes, Foley went on, "The number of youths increased who participate in victim impact panels"This program is for those youths who are either experimenting or have gotten into trouble."

Exact dates and locations for the program have not been announced by either SPARC or the sheriff’s department. According to Foley, many locations around the Capital District are available; more referrals are needed before the first sessions start sometime in October.

Referrals started coming in last Thursday after the press conference, Foley told The Enterprise this week.

Participants who test positive for a controlled substance will be referred for a professional assessment.
"There is one particular segment of the population that we have not been effective in engaging," said Robert Doherty, executive director SPARC, referring to the program’s targeted age group. "If we can inform this population effectively, we can positively affect their lives."

According to the 2005 Pride survey in the Guilderland School District, the number of ninth- and 10th-grade students who reported drinking beer in the past year exceeded the national average. In Guilderland, 44.6 percent of ninth-grade students and 50.7 percent of 10th-grade students drank beer compared to their counterparts nationally who reported only 40.4 percent and 48.3 percent respectively.

The numbers were similar for other drugs, too.

For 10th-graders using marijuana, Guilderland students reported a 33.8 percent use versus the 28-percent national average, and for hallucinogens, Guilderland students reported a 6.9 percent use versus the 5.5-percent average.

The Pride survey was created in 1982 by educators at Georgia State University in Atlanta to measure behavior on many issues affecting learning. A federal law in 1998 made the Pride surveys an official measurement of adolescent drug use.

The national averages were ascertained by the 2005 Monitoring the Future survey which was sponsored by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). According to NIDA, exactly half of all high school seniors today have tried an illicit drug by graduation.
"Albany County jail has the fifth-largest inmate hold in New York," Albany County Sheriff James Campbell said. "Jail should be the last stop"Underage drinking has become a problem.
"All of the area colleges are participating with the Stop-DWI program," Campbell added. He called the new program an additional option for Albany County residents looking to address alcohol- and drug-related issues.

The program was conceived last year as the brainchild of SPARC and the sheriff’s department.
"A year ago, Albany County noticed a problem in the community," said Debra Hendron, SPARC program coordinator. "We worked hard at targeting high schools and colleges and now we are opening to the general public"To refer somebody, all you have to do is call SPARC or Stop-DWI."

Before being open to the public, YAP was marketed to several Albany County school districts, probation officers, the New York State Employee Assistance Programs, and the Albany City Truancy Abatement Program, as well as the courts and law enforcement agencies.

To be admitted to the program, a youth must:

— Be between 15 and 22 years old;

— Be referred by municipal or county courts, college or high school judicial boards, police officers, parents, or concerned relatives; or

— Be sentenced from charges such as driving while intoxicated — especially for drivers under 21 years old —, illegal possession of alcohol, unlawful possession of drugs, or using forged identification.

The multi-media curriculum will include lectures, panel discussions, videos, PowerPoint presentations, and role-playing, as well as other tools for instruction and demonstration.
"There will also be a victims’ impact panel and an emergency room presentation, to show the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse, which can be fatal," Foley told The Enterprise. "We have funding from a lot of sources, including the Cohoes Savings Foundation; St. Peter’s Church; Albany County Department for Children, Youth, and Families Youth Bureau; and Albany County Stop-DWI"SPARC and Albany County Stop-DWI are donating time and staffing to the program as well."

The cost for the six-week sessions is $200, but scholarships are available for qualifying referrals.

The classes topics are: biological, psychological, and sociological model of addiction; the losses of addiction; a medical picture of addiction; a panel discussion on the criminal-justice system; learning the process of change in sobriety; and graduation.

To send in referrals, call Denis Foley at 720-8005 or Debra Hendron at 452-6750.
"You don’t want to see those people who are binge drinkers and heavy drinkers graduate to the next level of being arrested for DWI," Foley said. "Our goal is to help young persons who have shown early warning signs how to develop a healthy lifestyle and avoid later substance-abuse problems."