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GRANT PROGRAM: Drug
Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)
Program Purpose:
In 1993, the Governor created the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E). Advisory Board to develop, promote, monitor, and evaluate the D.A.R.E. program throughout the state and serve as an advisory board to the LCLE.
In response to the mounting concern about the use of drugs by youth, the LCLE has made grants available to sheriffs' offices and police departments who can demonstrate the capacity to offer the D.A.R.E. program in accordance with the national model. D.A.R.E. is a substance abuse prevention program designed to equip school children with skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. This program uses uniformed law enforcement officers to teach a formal curriculum to students in a classroom setting.
Law enforcement officers must become certified by completing the required D.A.R.E. training offered through a certified D.A.R.E. training center. D.A.R.E. awards grants to states according to formulas established in the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). OVC distributes approximately 90 percent of the money collected by the Fund in the form of two major formula grant programs to state agencies: Victim Compensation and Victim Assistance.
Act 832 of the 1989 Louisiana Legislatures Regular Session was enacted to require any person placed on probation or with a suspended sentence for conviction of a violation of the controlled dangerous substance law to pay a fee of not less than $50 nor more than $100 payable to the LCLE. The fees are credited to the Drug Abuse Education and Prevention Fund. The monies available in the fund are used exclusively by the LCLE to administer a grant program to assist local public and private non-profit agencies involved in drug abuse prevention programs.
Through the Drug Education and Prevention Fund, grants have been made available to the Louisiana D.A.R.E. Training Center which provides training to police officers across the state, in the D.A.R.E program to aid in the fight against drug abuse. Consistent funding of the Louisiana D.A.R.E. Training Center guarantees continuity of the D.A.R.E. curriculum through the establishment of training standards.
The first D.A.R.E. Officer Training was conducted by the Louisiana D.A.R.E. Training Center in June, 1990. Since that date, 433 officers have received D.A.R.E. certification under the qualified instruction of the training staff. The Training Center initially offered certification in Elementary D.A.R.E. curriculum which covers kindergarten through fourth grade and Core training which covers fifth and sixth grades. The Center has expanded its certification to offer training for the Junior High and Parent levels of the D.A.R.E. curriculum.
In addition to coordinating training schools and in-service workshops required for D.A.R.E. officers to maintain their certification, the Training Center is responsible for monitoring D.A.R.E. projects throughout the state. Detailed records are kept on each D.A.R.E. officer and the programs that are presented by each agency.
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