Denver Conference To Highlight Model Programs Proven To Reduce Violence, Delinquency And Drug Use

Feb. 27, 2006, More than 900 people will gather in downtown Denver March 13-15 for a first-of-its-kind conference focused on programs scientifically proven to prevent or reduce youth violence, delinquency and drug use.

Nationally renowned experts on youth development will speak at the Blueprints Conference hosted by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The sold-out event will be held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, 1550 Court Place.

The conference will highlight 12 model programs that have been rated as exemplary by the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative. These rigorously examined programs were identified for their effectiveness from among more than 800 to be reviewed since 1998. Another 16 programs identified as “promising” also will be featured at the conference.

Highlights of the conference will include:

o March 14, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., the opening address, “Improving the Effectiveness of Our Delinquency, Drug and Violence Prevention Efforts: Promise and Practice,” by Delbert Elliott, executive director of the CU-Boulder Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, distinguished professor emeritus and senior scientific editor of the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on youth violence in 2000.

o March 14, noon to 1:30 p.m., featured address, “Public Policy and Prevention: A Blueprints Approach,” by Michele Ridge, former First Lady of Pennsylvania and advocate of evidence-based programs for youth.

o March 15, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., featured address, “Implementing Tested and Effective Programs Across America,” by David Hawkins, professor and founder of the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington.

o March 15, noon to 1:30 p.m., featured addresses on, “Sustaining Model Programs Over Time: A View From the Field,” by Jennifer Atler, executive director of Invest in Kids, and “Taking Evidence-Based Treatments to Scale: What’s the Evidence on What it Takes?” by Sonja Schoenwald, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Family Services Research Center, University of South Carolina.

The conference also will host dozens of smaller breakout sessions devoted to specific programs in the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative, as well as workshops on program implementation. The Blueprints Initiative also provides information on exemplary programs that is available to communities across the nation through a series of handbooks, fact sheets and the Web site of the CU-Boulder Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

Federal funding from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention enabled the Blueprints Initiative, with the help of its model program partners, to disseminate the programs nationally by providing on-site training and technical assistance, telephone consultations and a process of evaluation.

The 12 Blueprints model programs are:

o Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

o Brief Alcohol Screening Intervention for College Students

o Functional Family Therapy

o LifeSkills Training

o Midwestern Prevention Project

o Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care

o Multisystemic Therapy

o Nurse-Family Partnership

o Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

o Project Towards No Drug Abuse

o Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies

o The Incredible Years: Parent, Teacher and Child Training Series

For more information about the Blueprints model programs or the CU-Boulder Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, a part of the CU-Boulder Institute of Behavioral Science, visit http://www.Colorado.EDU/cspv/.

Contact Information

Sharon Mihalic

University of Colorado

Contact via E-mail