Loveland Drug Task Force to implement prevention programs

Grant-funded plan result of collaboration between city agencies, community members and school district

Loveland, Ohio – The Loveland City School District has announced the Loveland Drug Task Force was awarded a $14,000 grant to implement drug and alcohol prevention programs for students. Little Miami River Chamber Alliance President Cee Cee Collins and Loveland City School District Nurse Judy Leamy authored the grant on behalf of the Drug Task Force that includes Loveland City Police, the City of Loveland, and Loveland City Schools and community members. Money from the grant will provide support for three drug-prevention programs, including:

• Hidden in Plain Sight – a program to educate parents on potential drug use their children could be involved in
• Those Who Host Lose the Most – in coordination with prom and other school-sponsored dances
• A coordinator position supported through the grant will manage the various mentoring programs in place at the Loveland City School District including LAMP (Loveland Adult Mentoring Program), the Ambassador Program, and a new program supported by NorthStar Church which involves mentoring outside the school day (Pathfinders Program); the coordinator will also work closely with the Loveland Drug Task Force education team

The Loveland Police will also pilot a program with Loveland Schools that looks at partnering a few of our at risk students with one or more of our local police officers to mentor them through physical fitness. During the 2014-15 school year, the district formed a task force in partnership with the Loveland community to begin the research process that would ultimately culminate into the Loveland Drug Task Force and the investment in a student survey to collect data on real student alcohol and drug use. Conducted by Prevention First, the PRIDE survey included a total of 633 seventh and eighth grade students and 1,146 ninth through twelfth grade students attending Loveland City Schools who took a questionnaire between September and November 2015. The task force used information from the survey to provide targeted education around the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.

“I want to offer a sincere thank you to the members of the Loveland Task Force who have committed time, effort and energy toward this project,” said Loveland Superintendent Chad Hilliker. “The research that was conducted, and the programs that will be implemented during the upcoming school year will make a difference for our students.”