District cuts funding for drug-prevention camp

     By Chris Jones
     View staff writer
      For the ninth consecutive year, members of Students Taking Action to Terminate Unlawful Substances will head off to Lee Canyon to participate in a drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse prevention camp.
      However, the camp's future beyond this year is in doubt.
      The program, which works with students in grades six through 12 to encourage a substance-free lifestyle, has used the summer camp as a focal point of its educational efforts for nearly a decade.
      This year almost 100 students, along with 30 volunteer adult staff members, are registered to attend. However, recent changes in federal standards have forced the Clark County School District to eliminate the camp's funding after this year's event, which is scheduled for Saturday through July 2.
      The organization and its leadership camp were previously funded through the school district as part of the federal government's Safe and Drug Free Schools program. In the future, funds for the activity will have to be found from outside sources.
      "We are now at the point of looking for private funding to continue running the STATUS leadership (camp)," said Jim Shoop, a drug prevention specialist who works as the camp director. "Our millennium camp program is not covered right now."
      Shoop estimates it costs $20,000 to fund the event each year, with $11,000 being used solely on food and facilities. Participants pay $60 to attend.
      "Nobody's getting rich off of this," Shoop said. "A good portion of that money is already tied up in things you have to have in order to run the camp."
      Karla McComb, who works as the assistant director of the Safe and Drug Free Schools program in Clark County, said money is allocated from the federal government based on the size and number of students within a school district. She estimates the Clark County School District receives about $500,000 per year to support its Safe and Drug Free Schools efforts, which include programs like Student/Parent Drug Intervention, D.A.R.E. and STATUS.
      "When you have limited funds, you have to make decisions," McComb said. "The STATUS camp was not (a program) that impacted a lot of kids, so we're going to do something (with the money) that can have a broad impact throughout the district.
      "The reason for not (continuing) financing is that the focus on prevention programs has changed at the federal level. We don't get free reign on what we can spend money on, and in this last year the federal guidelines have changed dramatically.
      "All of the programs we fund will now be based on nationally validated evaluations, so we have to get statistics to show they work. That will narrow the field to make sure (programs) are effective, and it's extremely difficult to evaluate a program based in a camp setting."
      Still, Shoop contends the camp's results are real -- even if they can't be measured by readily available statistics.
      "People want to measure success in a short period of time; with drug prevention, you can't do it," Shoop said. "I can give them a year by year thing, but the true essence of a program is when people are in their mid-20s. Are they drug free at that point? That's the real issue."
      Jannell Thomas, a 19-year-old who has attended the camp for eight years and now works as a staff trainer, said the program has made a significant difference in the lives of many participants.
      "A lot of the skills that you learn (through STATUS) don't transfer over into a looser lifestyle because you learn self-discipline and that there are other ways to have fun besides getting drunk or high," Thomas said. "I think it's a shame the school district is going to cut the funding. They look at a piece of paper and they don't realize what an impact you are making. They just look at hard, cold numbers which don't give you a feeling of what the program is about."
      Shoop said: "I'm disappointed and upset because I've seen what this program can do. It's produced some really strong kids who have made living without drugs and alcohol part of their lifestyle."
      The camp's participants will be exposed to a variety of messages aimed at enforcing the benefits of a substance-free lifestyle. Among other activities, the Nevada State Tobacco Coalition will visit to discuss the harmful effects of smoking and representatives from Montevista Hospital are scheduled to bring in a pair of teens to discuss what it was like to overcome their addiction.
      "These things will heighten our kids' awareness about the harmful effects of drugs," Shoop said. "I have kids (in the program) all over the county who come to camp to develop a plan which they will bring back to their schools. How are they going to heighten drug awareness and plan activities for others if you don't give them information?"
      Shoop said the camp is unlike any other in the country, which adds to his disappointment.
      "I don't want to see STATUS relegated to getting its funding cut and watching the program die," Shoop said. "Federal funds were cut, but I have a hard time understanding why a district our size can't find $20,000 to run this kind of program.
      "Our whole society is inundated with messages encouraging using (substances), but there's not much out there that says it's OK to be drug-free. We're part of that process. I feel like it's an uphill battle, but I'm not going to give up the fight."