D.A.R.E program see’s decrease in grant applicants
After 31 years of existence, fewer state law enforcement and education agencies are applying for aid to continue the well-known D.A.R.E program.
The Athens County Sheriff’s Office is one of the agencies statewide still applying for the grant.
Ohio Attorney General spokesman Dan Tierney said about 200 requests for D.A.R.E grants used to be received yearly. 182 agency requests were funded in 2013, according to a report from the Attorney General’s office.
According to Attorney General Mike Dewine’s D.A.R.E Review and Evaluation Report for 2013, 50 percent of a D.A.R.E. officer’s salary would come from the grant.
Tierney said the other half of his or her salary would come from local funding.
“A large issue is local funding making decisions based on the needs of the community,” Tierney said.
Athens Police Department D.A.R.E Officer Rick Crossen has been teaching the program in Athens County for 21 years.
He is paid $22.62 an hour by the county for the position.
Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Childs also teaches the D.A.R.E program countywide.
Interim Sheriff Rodney Smith said his department obtained all the funds they requested for the program this year.
According to the 2014 budget for the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, a $15,500 D.A.R.E. salary grant was awarded to the county.
Athens also had $2,824 in “donation expenses” allocated for the D.A.R.E. program.
“We always apply for the grant,” Smith said.
The Attorney General’s report stated that the D.A.R.E grant’s funding has decreased three percent each year for four years.
Tierney said in the past, the state was able to grant approximately 75 percent of the grants received. But due to the decrease in applications, each applicant was funded 94 percent of his or her request.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program also has a statewide fund through license fees reinstatement, which offenders pay when they want their license reinstated.
“Fewer agencies are applying for D.A.R.E. grants,” Tierney said.
The Attorney General’s report said “the D.A.R.E. program had seen a loss of some schools seeking to participate in the training as a debate raged across the country over the effectiveness of the program.”
Due to the results of the report, a new curriculum called “D.A.R.E./Keepin’ it REAL,” was put into place in 2007. The revised program is taught at the elementary and middle school level, and now teaches drug awareness, self esteem and over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse.
Crossen said he teaches the “core program” to 6th graders in the county. He also conducts lessons with 2nd and 4th graders, two lessons on prescription and over-the-counter drugs to 5th graders, as well as follow-up visits with 7th and 8th graders.
“I feel my job as the D.A.R.E. instructor is to help teach the kids how to process and make good decisions, no matter what the topic is about,” Crossen said.
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