|
|
 
Agency Budget Summary
Department of Education
I. Resource Summary
II. Methodology
- The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) program authorizes activities to prevent drug use and violence by youth. For purposes of scoring the Department's drug control funds, the Department estimates that all funds used under this program for violence prevention also have a direct impact on drug prevention. Therefore, this drug control budget includes 100 percent of the resources for the SDFSC program.
- Although the budget identifies specific dollar amounts for treatment resources, these funds reflect only approximations of the cost of activities that assist individuals with a drug-related disabling condition. The Department estimates that approximately 4 percent of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State grant funds will be used by State VR agencies to provide services to drug dependent clients for which data are available -- approximately 8.5 percent of individuals who achieved an employment outcome under this program had a primary or secondary disabling condition due to drug abuse. The budget also includes 100 percent of funding for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on the vocational rehabilitation of persons whose disability is drug dependency.
- The Department's drug control budget also includes program administration dollars that reflect the personnel compensation and benefits of a full-time-equivalent staff of 38 who administer these programs.
III. Program Summary
- The Department of Education administers programs to improve and expand elementary and secondary education, special education and early intervention programs for children with disabilities, bilingual education, vocational and adult education, higher education, and vocational rehabilitation activities, and carries out research, data collection, and civil rights enforcement activities. The Department's drug control programs are listed below by the goals of the Strategy.
Goal 1: Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco.
- The SDFSC program authorizes activities to prevent drug use by youth. Funds are appropriated directly for State grants and for National programs.
- Prevention activities authorized under the statute include developing instructional materials; counseling services; professional development programs for school personnel, students, law enforcement officials, judicial officials, or community leaders; implementing conflict resolution, peer mediation, and mentoring programs; implementing character education programs and community service projects; establishing safe zones of passage; and acquiring and installing metal detectors and hiring security personnel.
- SDFSC National Programs is a broad discretionary authority that permits the Secretary tocarry out programs to prevent the illegal use of drugs among, and promote safety and discipline for, students at all educational levels. Such programs may include training, demonstrations, direct services to school districts with severe drug problems, data collection and program evaluation, development and dissemination of information and materials, financial and technical assistance to institutions of higher education for campus-based projects that serve college and university students, and other federal initiatives that meet unmet national needs, including the priorities in the Strategy. These programs are often carried out jointly with other federal agencies.
Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.
- The Vocational Rehabilitation State grant program provides vocational counseling, training, placement, and other services designed to help individuals with a physical or mental disability prepare for and engage in gainful employment to the extent of their capabilities. Funds are allocated to states and territories on the basis of their population and per capita income. Persons with disabilities that result in a substantial impediment to employment and who can benefit in terms of an employment outcome, including those individuals whose disabling condition is due to drug abuse, are eligible for assistance.
- The activities of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) are intended to maximize the full inclusion and integration into society and employment of individuals with disabilities and to improve their economic and social self-sufficiency. NIDRR supports research, demonstrations, and dissemination activities, through various discretionary programs, on issues relating to persons of all ages with disabilities.
IV. Budget Summary
1999 Program
Goal 1: Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco.
- The FY 1999 appropriation for the Department of Education includes $570.2 million for prevention activities that support Goal 1 of the Strategy. This includes $441.0 million for SDFSC State Grants, $90.0 million for SDFSC National Programs (including an increase of $60.0 million over the FY 1998 level for direct, competitive grants to Local Educational Agencies), $35.0 million for the SDFSC Coordinator Initiative, and $4.2 million for program administration.
Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.
- The FY 1999 appropriation for the Department of Education contains an estimated $92.8 million for drug-related treatment and treatment research activities that support Goal 3 of the Strategy. This includes $92.2 million for the VR State Grants program, $0.5 million for NIDRR, and $0.1 million for program administration.
2000 Request
Goal 1: Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco.
- The total drug control request for Goal 1 activities for FY 2000 is $595.4 million, a net increase of $25.2 million over the FY 1999 enacted level. The FY 2000 request includes the following enhancements:
- A $15.0 million increase for the new SDFSC Coordinator Initiative will support the hiring of 400 drug coordinators, with each coordinator serving up to five middle schools. The $15.0 million increase brings the total funding for FY 2000 to $50.0 million. This program provides middle schools with trained personnel who are experts in planning, implementing, and evaluating successful drug prevention and school safety programs in schools.
- A $12.0 million increase for the SDFSC program to support a new federal response to violent deaths and other crises affecting schools, called Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence). Under this initiative, the Department of Education would provide immediate emergency assistance to a community following a violent or traumatic incident, such as counseling to students.
Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.
- The total drug control request for Goal 3 activities for FY 2000 is $94.2 million, a net increase of $1.4 million over the FY 1999 enacted level for Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants.
V. Program Accomplishments
- Improved the accountability of the SDFSC program by promulgating "Principles of Effectiveness" standards for improving the planning, design, implementation, and outcomes of drug prevention programs supported with SDFSC State Grant funds, and providing guidance and technical assistance to SDFSC State and local program coordinators on how to implement the Principles.
- Collaborated with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America on a revision of Growing Up Drug Free: A Parent's Guide to Prevention. This Department of Education booklet is one of the most requested publications ever produced by the federal government (28 million copies distributed to date).
- Provided support for the development of model programs to create drug-free, safe and orderly environments for learning.
- Revised and implemented a Safe and Drug-Free School Recognition Program designed to honor schools that have done an outstanding job creating drug-free, safe, and orderly learning environments for students.
- Provided support for initiatives designed to develop or improve the capacity of State and localeducational agencies to collect, analyze, and use data to make informed decisions about drug use prevention programming in schools.
- Disseminated 50,000 copies of the Department's drug prevention newsletter, The Challenge, to teachers, teacher-parent organizations, school administrators, and other drug prevention professionals four times a year. This newsletter includes up-to-date developments about prevention research, model prevention strategies, and examples of lesson plans that can be adopted for classroom use.
- Supported a training and technical assistance center to strengthen drug prevention programs for students at Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), and direct grants to IHEs for projects to validate and disseminate information on drug and violence prevention programs for this population.
- Convened an invitational meeting of national researchers, evaluators, and practitioners to identify effective programs, and to identify research and information gaps, among higher education alcohol and other drug prevention efforts.
- Supported the design and administration of a random sample national probability survey of college students' alcohol and other drug use and their perceptions of their college peers' behavior regarding alcohol and other drugs.
- Supported a national random survey of college senior administrators to identify the level and nature of alcohol, other drug, and violence prevention activity on campuses, and to assess needs on campuses for technical assistance or other services.
- Completed a large-scale epidemiological survey to identify patterns of drug use among VR State Grant consumers.
|
