School-Based Prevention
First Call delivers evidence-based prevention programs in school settings; including Life Skills Training, Too Good for Drugs and Relapse Prevention.
First Call works with over 50 schools to implement strategies that reduce youth risk factors and build resilience.
Our Story
In 2022, First Call developed new school partnerships on both sides of the state line as well as in urban, suburban, and rural communities, serving over 1,700 students through prevention programs. In the spring of 2023, First Call provided substance use prevention education services to over 50 schools and 1,356 students in the metro area.
The 8-week program touched on multiple, age-appropriate topics for the 3rd through 12th grade students, including: communication skills, how to deal with stress and anger management.
Through pre and post tests given to the students, data showed a 15% growth, 8% higher than the target goal, in knowledge throughout the eight week course. One hundred percent of the participating schools have agreed to an ongoing partnership for the upcoming school year.
Our Programs
First Call’s Safe and Healthy Schools program offers a menu of evidence-based and educational prevention programs at public, charter, private and parochial schools throughout the Kansas City metro area.
The following program components are provided to area school districts free of charge thanks to the support of agency partners like Johnson County Alcohol Tax Fund, Jackson County COMBAT, private foundations, and individual donors:
Caring for Kids (K-12): A seven-session course for youth impacted by a loved one’s substance misuse or other mental health challenges. This program helps participants regain a healthy, productive lifestyle by focusing on education, resilience, and safety.
Too Good Programs (K-12): A comprehensive family of evidence-based substance use, and violence prevention interventions designed to mitigate the risk factors linked to problem behaviors and build protection to resist those behaviors. Schools interested in this program can choose to implement Too Good for Drugs, Too Good for Violence, or both programs consecutively.
Life Skills Training (3-12): (Botvin 1995) A scientific approach for addressing the critical factors found to promote substance abuse through provider-led activities and coaching with peer interaction. This highly interactive program strengthens students’ abilities in personal self-management skills, general social skills, and drug resistance skills.
Teen Mental Health First Aid (10-12): Teaches teens how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges in their peers and friends. Upon completion of all training sessions, participants will become certified in Teen Mental Health First Aid for three years.
Adolescent Relapse Prevention Program (6-12): First Call Prevention Specialists provide education on how to handle stresses such as peer pressure, legal problems, and family dynamics without drugs and alcohol. Participants are given the opportunity to share their experiences with their peers and learn different coping mechanisms from each other through conversations guided by the facilitator. This program is for students that have had personal experience with substance use.
Our Schools
