The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program is designed to prevent violence in and around schools; prevent the illegal use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco by young people; and foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that supports academic achievement. Without a safe and orderly learning environment, teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn. Students and school personnel need a secure environment, free from the dangers and distractions of violence, drug use, and lack of discipline to enable all children achieve to their full potential.
To provide funds to support programs that:
1. Prevent violence in and around schools;
2. Prevent the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs;
3. Involve parents and communities; and
4. Are coordinated with related federal, state, school and community efforts and resources to foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that promotes student academic achievement.
Principles of Effectiveness
To ensure that recipients use the funds in ways that preserve State and local flexibility but are most likely to reduce drug use and violence among youth, a recipient shall:
1. Base its programs on a thorough assessment of objective data about the drug and violence problems in the schools and communities served
2. With the assistance of a local or regional advisory council, establish a set of measurable goals and objectives and design its programs to meet those goals and objectives.
3. Design and implement its programs for youth based on research or evaluation that provides evidence that the programs used prevent or reduce drug use, violence, or disruptive behavior among youth.
4. Evaluate its programs periodically to assess its progress toward achieving its goals and objectives, and use its evaluation results to refine, improve, and strengthen its program, and to refine its goals and objectives as appropriate.
Authorized Programs and Activities include
- Age appropriate and developmentally based violence and substance abuse prevention programs;
- Professional development and training for school personnel, parents and community members in drug and violence prevention;
- Expanded mental health services related to illegal drug use and violence:
- Conflict resolution and peer mediation programs;
- Alternative education programs;
- Counseling, mentoring, referral services and other student assistance practices and programs;
- Activities that involve families and community prevention providers in setting clear expectations against violence and illegal use of drugs;
- Emergency intervention services following traumatic crisis events;
- Establishing or implementing a system for transferring suspension and expulsion records;
- Developing and implementing character education programs;
- Establishing and maintaining a school safety hotline;
- Community service and service-learning projects;
- Conducting a national background check for all employees;
- Programs to train school personnel to identify warning signs of youth suicide;
- Programs for students faced with domestic violence or child abuse; and
- School security, including surveillance cameras and other technology, security personnel, and supporting safe zones of passage.