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PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN

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Appendix

Program Goal .......................................................................................................................3

Situation Analysis.................................................................................................................3

Primary/Informal Research ................................................................................................4-5

Audience................................................................................................................................5

Objectives..............................................................................................................................6

Key Messages ........................................................................................................................6

Communication Strategy.....................................................................................................6

Action Strategy .....................................................................................................................7

Timeline ................................................................................................................................8

Budget ...................................................................................................................................9

Tactics ...................................................................................................................................9-14

Survey....................................................................................................................................15-21

Evaluation .............................................................................................................................22-24

Roles ......................................................................................................................................24-25

References .............................................................................................................................26

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Program Goal

To re-educate parents of middle school children about prevention and consequences of substance abuse based on new research findings.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

During the 2012/2013 school years, Know The Truth worked with over 150 high schools, junior high schools, and community organizations in the Twin Cities and beyond to raise awareness about drug and alcohol prevention. The increase in prescription drug abuse is fueling a rise in heroin addiction. A growing number of young people who start abusing expensive prescription drugs are switching to heroin, which is cheaper and easier to buy. Everyday in the US, 2,500 youth (12 to 17) abuse a prescription pain reliever for the first time. A study shows that 20 percent of teens that admitted to abusing prescription drugs said their first experience doing so was before the age of 14. In 2012, an estimated 23.9 million Americans aged 12 or older had used an illicit drug or abused a psychotherapeutic medication (such as a pain reliever, stimulant, or tranquilizer) in the past month. This is up from 8.3 percent in 2002. The growth in middle school students ranging from sixth to 12th grade abusing prescription drugs results in the rise of students trying heroin. As the numbers for teen heroin usage increases, so does the concern for children and the major effects that heroin abuse can have on the rest of their lives. When an individual uses heroin, they are immediately subjected to the state of euphoria. Teens who use heroin may be associating with an element of society that operates outside the parameters of the law. In a recent study conducted by Monitoring the Future question over 46,000 teens between eighth grade and the 12th grade regarding their own drug history, which finds that there is a leap from 1.3 percent of eight graders and 1.3 percent of 10th graders who have abused heroin in the year prior to the study to 1.6 percent of 12th graders who used in the preceding year. Based on this information, it would seem that the latter years of high school pose a higher risk for exposure to, and use of, heroin among teens. When considering the population of high school students between the ninth grade and 12th grade, numbers translated to nearly 200,000 teens abusing heroin.

According to a 2015 survey conducted by the center for disease control and prevention found that the number of deaths from heroin use is up by 39 percent. That means 5,927 people died after using heroin in 2012 and that number jumped to 8,260 deaths in 2013.

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Primary/Informal Research

Performed a survey on Facebook

Dear All Facebook Friends:

I’m doing some informal/primary research for a project, could you please answer yes or no to the following questions?

1) Has someone close to you become addicted to heroin in the last 5 years?

12 out of 25 people said someone close to them had become addicted to heroin in the last 5 years.

2) Has someone close to you died from heroin overdose in the last 5 years?

Seven out of 25 people said someone close to them had died from a heroin overdose in the last 5 years.

3) Do you think heroin usage is a problem in the community that you currently live in?

Only 11 people thought heroin was a problem in the community in which they were currently living. Less than half of the people surveyed thought heroin usage was a problem around them.

4) Do you want people in your community to be more educated about the dangers of heroin addiction and overdose?

All 25 agreed they wanted people in their community to be more educated about the dangers of heroin addiction and overdose. Surveyors posted additional comments such as, “Thank you for the work you’re doing!” Shelby Cunliffe. “Education is the key to everything,” Tom Tom Tom-as Lorendo. “I believe not only my community but my generation needs to become more educated about this drug and drugs in the same class and the dangers of overdosing on them,” Shannon Ryan. “Yes, everyone should be educated!” Cristy Kuehl. “Of course, people should

5 | P a g e always be as educated as possible about something as dangerous as heroine,” Harvey Phillips. “It is a real thing and people need to know how to handle the sitatuion and what to do in case they find one of their friends using... people also need to know about NALOXONE to help with an overdose if they have people they know that are using opiates,” and “Here is a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mnodaware?ref=br_tf that a friend of mine runs and talks about all this stuff

Minnesota Overdose Awareness,” Tom Tom Tom-as Lorendo.

Audience

Internal audience: Know the Truth contacts

External Contacts:- teacher and consolers in the schools providing events

Demographics: African American (5.7 percent), Native American (1.3percent), Caucasian (86.2percent) , Hispanic/Latino (5percent), Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone (0.1percent), mixed races (2.3percent), Asian (4.5percent)

This information shows most of our presentations will have to be more focused on Caucasian population because Minnesota is 8.5percent higher the United States percentage and a 5.7percent difference in African American with less tailored information in African Americans.

Psychographics: Parents/adults that are involved, or who may be looking for information like the 25 people that responded to our survey on Facebook may have an overall positive reaction about the program’s event because they want to know if their child is using or to help prevent them from using. There are other parents that are less knowledgeable or naïve who may believe their children would never get involved with drugs or any other substances.

Public be found: Parent teacher conferences, Parent dinners, sporting events, and School website/Newspaper.

PR Audience plan (our focus): Parent of children in middle school because parents and children still communicate a lot unlike when they become high school students. Also student tend to have more judging will in middle school so they tend to do thing to feel welcome. Another reason for focusing on parents of middle school students is try and get more parent to parent communication on drug abuse.

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Objectives

1. Provide information to parents of young teens, cordially inviting them to A Night to Know the Truth, a formal gala sponsored by Know the Truth. This will raise awareness and provide more information on the damage drug usage has on young teens. The gala takes place on April 25, 2015, and the success will be measured by the overall attendance of the evening. \

2. Create Buzz through parents of middle school students to build more concrete relationships with their children to prevent them from using drugs and alcohol, based on the speeches given by affected parents at the Night to Know the Truth gala, on April 25, 2015.

3. Build positive reinforcement with parents of middle school students to have open and honest communication with their children about drug usage at a younger age, while their children still value their opinion, to help them be more aware of the affects heroin has on their mental, and physical health and how it will impact their lives in the future.

Key Messages

1. The opium plant’s effects on the brain: A fine line between healing and hindering. 2. The journey of addiction: from Oxycontin to Heroin. 3. Open lines of communication between parents and teachers as a network to identify,

catch and solve problems early. 4. When it comes to educating your kids, parents should turn “Just say NO,” into, “Just say

KNOW.”

Communication Strategies Know the Truth’s parent speakers will engage effectively with the parents of middle school children by sharing their own personal experiences about the affects that drugs and alcohol has had on their families and children. We plan to make a more active connection between parents and the Know the Truth information that needs to reach them by referencing it in the school’s e-mail out to parents, using informational packets and pamphlets, as well as a mailer to disseminate the accurate and consistent information across several delivery channels to suit a parent’s busy lifestyle.

Key Messages

1. The opium plant’s effects on the brain: A fine line between healing and hindering. The opium plant, discovered centuries ago, is still the most powerful and effective pain killer known in alleviating pain. This is a life saver for patients with unbearable amounts of pain because it works unlike anything else. What is different about it is it does not simply block the pain recep-tors from accepting pain, it actually chemically changes the make-up of the receptors into a new way of feeling pain all together. Patients do not mind even new sources of pain on the body as much because the body doesn’t understand it in the same way anymore, patients get a higher tol-erance for pain while their injuries are healing. After injuries are healed enough, a patient can begin the cycle of weaning off the drug.

However, when kids experiment with oxycontin use, they take more than prescribed by the doc-tor on the bottle and when a child consumes this higher dosage the body has already begun changing that child’s ability to quit the drug because of these chemical changes in the brain. Not only is this process difficult for the mind and body of an adolescent, but new research has shown that adolescent male brains do not fully develop until the age of 25-28. A female’s brain is fully developed between the ages of 21-23. If kids start using any drugs including heroine or alcohol before then, they may never fully develop and damage their brains for life. When kids try oxy-contin and use more than prescribed, the opiates are known for chemically changing the structure of the brain and the way it reacts to pain. This is especially crucial in an underdeveloped brain to be having these kinds of interferences with its natural growth and maturity process. Over use and the toxic levels that addicts use to get high is especially volatile on an underage’s brain de-velopment.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/health/gupta-unintended-consequences/

2. The journey of addiction: from Oxycontin to Heroin. Heroin use often starts as Oxycontin prescription use that kids found in their parent’s medicine cabinet, or was prescribed directly to them from an injury from a doctor. U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, has called the rise in overdose deaths from heroin and prescription painkillers an “urgent public health crisis.” Accord-ing to the CDC, one in five high school students has taken prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription. And heroin abusers often report that their foray into heroin began with prescription drug abuse.

Despite what people think, heroin is an equal opportunity destroyer. Addiction to heroin and oth-er opiates (such as oxycodone, Oxycotin, Percocet and Vicodin) impacts Americans in urban cities, the suburbs and rural areas in every state. Heroin overdose deaths increased 55% between 2000 and 2010 and continue to rise.

Many people hold a misconception that drug dependence is a voluntary behavior and moral fail-ure. However, addiction is actually a complex medical issue, not a moral issue. No one starts off saying, “I want to be an addict and live a life of pain.”

All these drugs trigger "tolerance" -- the need to take higher doses for the same effect -- and a craving for the drug in its absence. It is precisely because there are so many similarities that pain pill addicts frequently turn to hero-in when pills are no longer available to them. Heroin is usually cheaper than prescription drugs. Opiate pain medications cost the uninsured about $1 per milligram; so a 60-milligram pill will cost $60. You can obtain the equivalent amount of heroin for about one-tenth the price. This may be news to you, but it's likely not to some of your neighbors, friends and family mem-bers. Last year, the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte spent time trying to better understand the patients who were coming into detox for heroin. What they found were cops, lawyers, nurses and ministers who came from some of the best neighborhoods in the area. Most of them shared a common story: "We used to take pills, but now we inject heroin."

http://yourteenmag.com/2014/04/teens-heroin-suburbs-expert-advice/ http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/health/gupta-unintended-consequences/

3. Open lines of communication between parents and teachers as a network to identify, catch and solve problems early. Parents need to be on the same side as other parents, and help each other to tackle this serious problem. Talk to other parents, when partying or drug use hap-pens, don’t be a barrier between another parent and his or her child. Do not believe that drinking and drug use is okay as long as kids are under a parent’s supervision. New research shows that any underage drug or alcohol use is dangerous to the development of a child’s brain. Also, coun-selors at school should be on the lookout of signs and symptoms of heroin use in students and let parents know immediately.

http://yourteenmag.com/2013/04/a-parents-story-about-prescription-drugs

(Parent tells story)

“I’ve heard your daughter, Caitlin, is using synthetic heroin.” I stopped. My heart started pounding. The woman on the phone had introduced herself as the drug and alcohol counselor at the other high school in our district. “I thought you should know,” she continued. “It is a very dangerous drug.” Heroin, I thought. That’s the stuff that you inject with dirty needles in dark alleys. Junkies, that’s what they call the people who use heroin. “Synthetic heroin? What is that?” I asked. “This drug is a form of Oxycontin,” she answered. “It is an opiate. It is very expensive and very addictive. The next stop is heroin, which is much cheaper.” I was overwhelmed but I did say that she had been really sick the past couple of days. The counselor said it could be withdrawal. “Thank you so much for calling. I’m very grateful,” I said, ending the conversation. I wanted to hang up before I broke down.

Caitlin’s behavior had been problematic since she was about 14. There was verbal abuse and risky behavior. She had been caught shoplifting. Recently, my husband and I had discovered she had been sneaking out the window at night. Other nights, she would come home past curfew. She’d call with excuses: “The key got locked in the car” or “Our friends ran out of gas, and we had to give them a ride home.” Sick with worry and unable to sleep, I wanted to believe her ex-cuses. But, there were too many, and often, they didn’t make sense. One weekend, Caitlin was in bed, sick to her stomach. She thought she had the flu, but her fore-head wasn’t hot. She wouldn’t eat. Very odd, I thought. The next day, she was still in bed. That afternoon, I got the phone call. After I hung up with the counselor, a black sinking feeling welled up inside me. I started to google,“Oxycontin withdrawal,” but the search was already in the history. Someone had done it before me. The search returned terms like, “inpatient”and“drug treatment.” I read many articles about Oxy-contin withdrawal, which included nausea, cold sweats, chills, anxiety and insomnia. This was all new to me, and I felt in over my head. “How did we get here?” I wondered. I had so many questions for Caitlin: How much did these drugs cost? Where did you get them? How long have you been doing this? Later, I learned that my daughter cooked the Oxycontin with tinfoil and a spoon. The cooking destroyed the time release of the drug and made it much more potent. Then, she smoked it. There were many scary side effects, including mood alteration and death. The pills cost $60-$80 each. Usually, kids would steal money from anyone to get these drugs. Eventually, the drugs got too expensive, which led them to use the cheaper option, heroin. I still had many more questions: Why were these drugs so accessible? Where were the suppliers get-ting them? There was so much I didn’t know. “I’m not going to treatment unless it’s in-patient,” Caitlin told me. I was relieved with her deci-sion. She’d be somewhere safe for 28 days, and I would be able to sleep at night. I hoped. I contacted a treatment center recommended by parents in my parent support group, and this fa-cility had an available bed and was covered by our insurance. The first step was to get a drug and alcohol assessment to determine the level of care she would need. We called the therapist who Caitlin had been seeing for a few months (the fourth one she’d seen in about two years). I came to learn that this woman hadn’t documented any of my daughter’s visits and was “surprised” to hear she was using Oxycontin. I wanted to scream at her, but I didn’t. I called my insurance company in tears. The woman who answered the phone recommended a counselor, who could see Caitlin that afternoon. Caitlin went to the assessment willingly and was in treatment by the following Monday. I will be forever grateful to this counselor. It wasn’t the end of the story for us, but it was a be-ginning. -Anonymous

4. When it comes to educating your kids, parents should turn “Just say NO,” into, “Just say KNOW.” Prevention begins with education. Parents must become informed and then teach their teens about the devastating effects of prescription drugs and heroin. At my parent programs, the most frequently asked question is, “What can I do to protect my teen? I feel powerless.” I be-lieve, however, that parents are very powerful. The best way to beat this drug and addiction, is to understand it and its effects.

Here are some tips: 1. Don’t wear blinders. This can happen to anyone. After a heroin or opioid death, people say, “I never thought that it could happen here.” But heroin can happen anywhere, so don’t rely on, “Not my kid, not my community.” 2. Be a role model. Model positive behavior in your approach to using alcohol and medicine. 3. Educate yourself and your teen. Heroin abuse commonly begins with prescription opiate abuse. Check your medicine chest. If you have prescription painkillers that you don’t use, deposit them in a secured prescription drug drop box. 4. Talk to your children. Use high profile news about heroin deaths - like the recent heroin deaths of Cory Monteith, the Glee star, and actor Philip Seymour Hoffman - to talk about heroin with your kid. To do this, you must be involved in your teen’s home, social, school and community life. 5. Know the signs and behaviors. Heroin users are seldom honest about use, and they often lie and steal. 6. Know the paraphernalia: syringes, pipes and belts or tubing. 7. Know the symptoms: dry mouth, flushed skin, constricted pupils, impaired mental function-ing, nodding out and breathing slow. Trust your teens. But, if you are suspicious, then inspect. 8. Be prepared, not scared. If you suspect, you need to get help immediately. 9. Find a health professional who can provide an assessment. You can find a provider through the SAMHSA website: www.samhsa.gov/treatment/index.aspx 10. Act quickly. About 80% of heroin users inject with partners, but about 80% who are overdos-ing are found alone. This means that friends are abandoning their friends because they are scared or don’t know what to do. Meantime, there is a drug, naloxone or Narcan, which can reverse an opiate overdose through injection or nasal spray. Currently, Naloxone is available only by pre-scription, but states are changing laws to allow family and friends easier access to this drug that can save lives.

http://yourteenmag.com/2014/04/teens-heroin-suburbs-expert-advice/

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Action Strategies

Tap into existing communication channels between parents and teachers at parent and teacher conferences, using teachers to make sure that materials and information from Know the Truth reaches parents. Hold a pre-conference prep session to educate teachers of their role in the program and make sure they have all the correct informational packets and pamphlets as well as know where to get more if they need so that they can be an effective resource for parents.

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T I M E L I N E S C H E D U L E 2 0 1 5

PROJECT/EVENT KNOW THE TRUTH GALA, APRIL 18, 2015

ORGANIZER DREAM TEAM PR

Team Members: Emily Larson, Anna Vogt, Amy Hendrickson, Charles Blegen, Emily Knudsen

TAC TIC RESPONSIBLE

TACTIC 1 Invitation Emily Larson

TACTIC 2 Donation Letter

Anna Vogt

TACTIC 3 Magnet Amy Hendrickson

TACTIC 4 Swag Bag

Emily Knudsen

BUDGET [Select Date]

Charles Blegen

[Select Date]

[Select Date]

[Select Date]

[Select Date]

PROJECT PHRASE STAR TIN G ENDING

APPROXIMATLEY TWO MONTHS

2.9.2015 4.6.2015

APPROXIMATELY TWO MONTHS

2.10.2015 4.6.2015

APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH

3.2.2015 4.6.2015

APPROXIMATELY TWO MONTHS

1.12.2015 3.11.2015

ONGOING 3.1.2015 12.31.2015

[Select Date] [Select Date]

[Select Date] [Select Date]

MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST

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SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY

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Budget

x Staff time

o Putting swag bag together

o Design key chain

o Design Magnet

o Answering phones

o Printing of flyers

x Donated

o Pens

o Magnets

o Water bottles

x Out of Pocket

o Websites

o Swag Bag

o Paper

o Ink

Tactics

One tactic focused on is a Swag Bag. The swag bag will be given away to parents and attendees of Know The Truth gala, held on April 25 at 7p.m., at the Olson Middle School gymnasium. The strategy behind the swag bag is to fill it with appropriate paraphernalia such as pens, KTT monogrammed paper, magnets, water bottles, key chains, and informational pamphlets. These particular items are of value, they are useful, functional, desirable, effective and memorable. They are items that people tend to use on a daily basis, they are not throw away items. The swag bags are also thank you gifts to each of attendees, show our appreciation, gratitude, and support by taking time to attend the gala.

10 | P a g e The bag itself is intended to be an integral part of the overall strategy, and to do this we will use a creative bag that is designed with fun colors, a unique fabric, and it will have a stylish look to it. The bags will also be functional, as we would like the attendees to reuse these bags on a daily basis, this in turn keeps the KTT logo in the public, thus creating PR for our organization.

The creative tone of the swag bag tactic will be fun and exciting, along with letting attendees know that KTT is knowledgeable, reliable, and principled.

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Know The Truth 1619 Portland Ave S. Minneapolis, MN 55404 (612)238-6190 http://knowthetruthmn.org/ 03.15.2015 Troy E. Whelan Director of Sales and Marketing Aloft Minneapolis Hotel 900 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55415 Dear Mr. Whelan, I am writing on behalf of the organization Know the Truth. Know the Truth is a teenage substance abuse prevention program of Minnesota Teen Challenge- a residential drug and alcohol program for teenagers and adults. Know the Truth works with teenagers, parents and teachers, educating them in the dangers of substance use and offering help to those that seek it. It is with great excitement that we invite you to participate in our upcoming event! Know the Truth is hosting its very first formal gala for parents of surrounding metropolitan middle school students. The event will be taking place at the Carlson Middle School gymnasium on April 25, 2015. To make our night as exciting and successful as we would hope we need your help! We ask that you would please consider donating a free stay at the Aloft Minneapolis Hotel to our event for the silent auction being held throughout the evening. Your donation is tax deductible, we would be happy to provide Tax ID number upon your request.

13 | P a g e All donations can be sent to the address listed above, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us. Thank you in advance for supporting Know the Truth.

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Attitude and Perception Survey on Underage Drinking and Drug Usage

**Please complete this survey by putting an X on the blank spot next to all answers that may apply

About Your Child(ren)

1. How many children, ages 18 or younger do you have?

___________ # of children

2. How many children, ages 18 or younger live in your household?

___________ # of children in household

3. In what grade is your child(ren)?

____ 6th grade

____ 7th grade

____ 8th grade

4. Is your child male or female?

____ Male ____ Female

Top Concerns about Youth

16 | P a g e 5. What are the THREE issues that concern you the most?

____ Academic Pressure

____ Involvement with crime and violence

____ Sexual issues for teens

____ Teen Alcohol use

____ Teen depression

____ Teen drug use

____ Teens being harassed by other students

____ OTHER (please print): _______________________________________

6. How wrong do you feel it would be for you child to:

Inhaling gases or sprays in order to get high nearly every day?

____ No Risk ____Slight Risk _____Moderate Risk _____Great Risk

Take one or two drinks of an alcohol beverage (beer, wine, liquor) nearly every day?

____ No Risk ____Slight Risk _____Moderate Risk _____Great Risk

Try marijuana once or twice?

____ No Risk ____Slight Risk _____Moderate Risk _____Great Risk

Take prescription medicines that are not prescribed to them?

____ No Risk ____Slight Risk _____Moderate Risk _____Great Risk

7. True or false: Prescription drugs are the leading cause in heroin usage

____TRUE _____FALSE

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Do you know what effect the following drugs have on your body?

Marijuana ____Yes ____No

Speed/Crystal Meth ____Yes ____No

Ecstasy/MDMA ____Yes ____No

Heroin ____Yes ____No

Prescription drugs ____Yes ____No

Alcohol ____Yes ____No

8. Where do you, as a parent, find your information about the effects of drugs?

(Mark all that apply)

______ Friends

______ School

______ Other parents / Relatives

______ Articles and books

______ Internet

______ Movies/TV

______ Professionals/ Counselors

Prescription and Opioid drugs

9. How confident do you feel about noticing if your child were using an opioid (heroin)?

______ I would know immediately

______ I would eventually catch on by their behavior

______ My child is good at hiding things from me, I would never know

______ Not sure

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10. In 2015 there was a national survey on drug use and health, what percentage of children 12 years and older (Do you think) have tried heroin at least once in their lifetime?

_____ 2.00 percent

_____ 1.80 percent

_____ .10 percent

_____ .30 percent

11. What reason (do you think) teens begin to use prescription drugs / heroin

____Pressured by their peers

____Influenced by the media

____Curious

____Anxious, depressed, stressed

12. Do you believe that you can become addicted to un-prescribed prescription medicine and heroin after just taking it once?

Prescription drugs: ____YES _____NO

Heroin: ____YES _____NO

13. Do you feel like you have enough knowledge on prescription drugs and heroin?

___YES ____NO

19 | P a g e 14. If YES, what are THREE symptoms of someone using heroin?

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

15. In your opinion, where do most students in grades 6th through 8th get prescription medicine from?

____ Meeting with strangers who might have it

____Other students who are selling it

____From their own homes

____From their friends or friends home

____At a party

16. Do you think there is a “problem” with drug use by youth in schools and in the community? (Please mark Yes or No in the blank space provided)

Marijuana _________

Ecstasy__________

Heroin___________

Alcohol_________

Prescription pills________

20 | P a g e 17. If you feel that something needs to be done in our community, what do you think would work the best? (Please mark all those that apply)

_______ More School Education

_______ More Counseling and Support

_______ Tougher laws

_______ More RCMP enforcement

Other: _______________________

Communicating with your child

18. Have you ever talked with your child about:

____ Tobacco use

____Sniffing/inhaling chemicals to get high

____Alcohol use

____Binge drinking

____Marijuana use

____Using prescription drugs without a prescription

____Cocaine or Ecstasy use

____Heroin

____Methamphetamines (Meth, Crystal Meth, Crank)

____ LSD (acid) or other psychedelics (peyote, PCP)

19. Do you feel like you have enough information to talk with your child(ren) about drugs?

____ YES ____ NO

21 | P a g e 20. Would you be interested in learning more about teen alcohol or drug use?

____YES ____NO

21. If the school and community were to set up an action group to deal with the current drug and alcohol use issue, would you be willing to be a part of this group?

_____ YES _____NO

Thank you for completing this survey. For more information please visit KnowTheTruthMN.org

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Evaluation

A Night to Know the Truth

Formal Gala

Olson Middle School

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Program goal:

Reduce drug usage among middle school students through parental involvement.

Objective:

Educate parents of middle school students on new research regarding the prevention and consequences of substance abuse through strengthened relationships and communication, positive reinforcement, and preemptive engagement.

Measurement:

1. Parental response in the form of RSVP’s, with a return goal of seventy five percent

2. Pre- and post-presentation surveys measuring parent’s perception and attitudes regarding substance abuse.

3. Increased community involvement in Know the Truth’s support groups and hotlines.

How would I report the results?

To begin, I will define what was evaluated, and I would do this by using an evaluation snapshot summary to present to the board members of KTT, as well as, to staff and volunteers. I will use a pie chart to show the percentage of people who learned and will use the educational information that was used during the presentation at the gala. This will all be presented on a power point with pictures of the gala as well.

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How could the results be used to make changes?

The results can be used to make changes to increase awareness, improve performance, and to increase other strategies, such as supplemental activities.

What research methods might be used for evaluation purposes?

To begin the evaluation process, we could conduct a survey to gauge awareness and perception of the organization and how it reflected on the parents who attended. By keeping a record of how many parents attended, and how much money was raised, we could use those numbers in our final survey. We could conduct a pre-program survey that would allow us to see the parent’s awareness, perceptions and attitudes prior to the gala, and then conduct a post-program survey once the event is over. By doing that, we could get a more accurate idea of how well their attitudes and awareness has changed from before and after. We could also set up interviews with parents who had attended the gala; by doing this we could measure their retention and comprehension of what they remembered from the speakers and gain a better understanding of how their perceptions changed about drug usage and their attitudes towards helping their children. By interviewing different parents we would be able to see the lasting impressions that KTT left on them and the knowledge they gained.

Is there cost involved with this?

By creating surveys, interviews, and keeping records of attendance and money raised, the cost would substantially low. These research methods are inexpensive but accurate ways to measure comprehension, attitudes, and impressions. The budget preparation for this would include staff salaries for those who are sitting down to interview with the parents, and any sort of technical assistance provided in the making of the survey.

What is the timing?

The timing for these research approaches would have to be planned out accordingly. Since the gala takes place April 18, there would need to be a pre-program survey conducted about one week before the gala takes place and then about one week after the gala, there would be a post-program survey. By timing them out accurately to before and after, we would be able to clearly see how the parent’s knowledge and attitude had changed. The interview process

24 | P a g e should happen about a month after the KTT gala, by conducting it a month later, it would give the parents some time to reflect on what they learned, and we could receive the feedback of what they comprehended from the overall event and what really stood out to them as far as retention and knowledge.

Roles

Emily Knudsen

x Goal x Edited for AP Style (planning section) x Tactic x Timeline x Report the results of the evaluations/make program changes

Emily Larson

x Situational Analysis x Objectives x Tactic x Research be used for evaluation purposes/budget/ time

Amy Hendrickson

x Primary/Informal Research x Action and Communications Strategies, Key Messages x Tactic x Measure the outcomes in the program goal and objectives

Anna Vogt

x Situational Analysis x Grammar/spelling/formatting (planning section) x Tactic x Measure the outcomes in the program goal and objectives

25 | P a g e Charles Blegen

x Goal x Audience x Budget x Team members rules

26 | P a g e

References

https://www.facebook.com/mnodaware?ref=br_tf

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/27000.html

http://yourteenmag.com/2013/04/a-parents-story-about-prescription-drugs

http://yourteenmag.com/2014/04/teens-heroin-suburbs-expert-advice/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/health/gupta-unintended-consequences/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/health/gupta-unintended-consequences/

http://yourteenmag.com/2014/04/teens-heroin-suburbs-expert-advice/