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IV. Agency Budget Summaries

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


  1. RESOURCE SUMMARY

  2. 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. In FY 1998, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) plans to continue support for its Research and Training Center on the vocational rehabilitation of persons whose disability is drug dependency; the Department's drug control budget includes 100 percent of funding for this Center. An estimated 10 percent of total program funds in the Grants for Infants and Families program are spent each year on services for children who were prenatally exposed to drugs. Amounts for all other drug treatment activities are based on the specific funding levels for individual project grants that the Department has identified as drug-related.

    • 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 34 who administer these programs.

  3. 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. The Department's drug control programs are listed below by the goals of the National Drug Control 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 and violence by youth. Funds are appropriated directly for State grants and for National programs.

    • Drug and violence 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 to carry out programs to prevent the illegal use of drugs and violence 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 National Drug Control 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 VR 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 Grants for Infants and Families program provides financial assistance to states to help them develop and implement statewide systems of comprehensive, coordinated early intervention programs for children with disabilities, aged birth through 2 years. Funds are allocated based on the number of children from birth through age 2 in the general population.

    • Special Education National Activities support grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements to public agencies and private organizations. Activities include research, demonstrations, training, and other activities. Funded activities include a project studying the effectiveness of various intervention models for serving infants and toddlers prenatally exposed to cocaine. Awards are usually made on a competitive basis in the first year and are renewed on a noncompetitive basis for 2 to 4 succeeding fiscal years.

    • The activities of the 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.

  4. BUDGET SUMMARY

    1998 Program

    Goal 1: Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco.

    • The 1998 appropriation for the Department of Education includes $559.5 million for prevention activities that support Goal 1 of the National Drug Control Strategy. This includes $531 million for SDFSC State Grants, $25 million for SDFSC National Programs, and $3.6 million for program administration.

    Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.

    • The 1998 appropriation for the Department of Education contains an estimated $125.8 million for drug-related treatment and treatment research activities that support Goal 3 of the National Drug Control Strategy. This includes $89.9 million for the VR State Grants program, $35 million for Special Education Grants for Infants and Families, $0.2 million for Special Education National Activities, $0.5 million for NIDRR, and $0.2 million for program administration.

    1999 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 1999 is $609.8 million, a net increase of $50.2 million over FY 1998. The 1999 request includes the following enhancements:

      • A $50 million increase for the SDFSC program to support a new Coordinator Initiative, which provides middle schools with trained personnel who are experts in planning, implementing, and evaluating successful drug prevention programs in schools.

      • A reallocation of $5.0 million from SDFSC State Grants to SDFSC National Programs, to support additional national leadership activities to improve the quality and effectiveness of drug and violence prevention programming.

      • To create a program that is both better targeted and more effective, the request also includes proposed appropriations language that would permit the Department to award $125 million of SDFSC State grants competitively to school districts based on the severity of their drug and safety problems and the quality of their prevention programming.

    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 1999 is $129.9 million, a net increase of $4.1 million over FY 1998. The 1999 request includes the following enhancements:

      • An increase of $2.3 million for Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants, and

      • An increase of $2.0 million for Special Education Grants for Infants and Families programs.

  5. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    • The SDFSC State Grants program provides sustained support for drug and violence prevention activities serving more than 40 million students in over 97 percent of the nation's school districts.

    • A recently released longitudinal study of 19 programs funded under the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (the predecessor to the SDFSC Act) between 1991 and 1995 identifies characteristics that are typical of effective drug prevention programs:

      • Prevention program "stability" (as measured by: the length of time the program had been in place; the existence of a coherent program rationale that shapes the focus of the program at the district level; and the amount of time devoted by the prevention program coordinator to directing the program), was associated with more anti-drug attitudes and better recognition of the consequences of drug use.

      • Prevention program "extensiveness," or having an array of well-implemented program services for both the general student population and for students at high risk, was associated with benefits for students: significantly lower lifetime use of drugs, more anti-drug attitudes, and better recognition of the consequences of drug use.

    Performance Measures

    • The Department has developed a set of core indicators for the SDFSC State Grants program; these indicators are being implemented through a model data collection system and technical assistance to states in implementing the system. The indicators are intended to measure program outcomes (e.g., use of alcohol and other drugs, and incidence of violence and other criminal acts in schools); types of services provided; participation in the program by school districts, schools, and students; and selected aspects of program administration.

    Goal 1 Significant Recent Accomplishments

    • Collaborated with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Reader's Digest, and ABC television to develop and disseminate a guide for parents called "how to raise drug-free kids." Collectively, the three organizations distributed 18 million copies of the publication in 3 months.

    • Supported a project to collect and disseminate information on model programs, exemplary practices, and State laws relating to programs that address the needs of youth who are out of the education mainstream for the purpose of returning them to the classroom.

    • Provided support for programs in 11 schools and communities to replicate effective, research-based prevention programs.

    • Provided support for 8 initiatives designed to develop or improve the capacity of State and local educational agencies to collect, analyze, and use data to make informed decisions about drug and violence prevention programming in schools.

    • Provided support for programs in 28 schools and communities designed to (1) infuse research-based knowledge about "what works" into the design, development, and implementation of school-based strategies to prevent drug use among youth; (2) remove weapons from schools; (3) prevent truancy and address the needs of youth who are out of the education mainstream; and (4) prevent violent, aggressive, intimidating, or other disruptive behavior arising from bullying, sexual harassment, or other causes.

    • Supported a training and technical assistance center to strengthen drug prevention programs at institutions of higher education.

    • Supported a grant to study the developmental and educational progress of children in grades three through six who were prenatally exposed to drugs. The purpose of the grant is to identify appropriate strategies to enhance selected protective factors that can lessen the risk that these children will become drug users.

    • In cooperation with the National Endowment for the Arts, supported a grant to incorporate drug and violence prevention into community-based arts and humanities programs.

    • Sponsored an invitational meeting for Safe and Drug-Free Schools program coordinators from the State level and from 75 large school districts on how to implement strategies for effective, research-based drug and violence prevention programs.

    • 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 each 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.

    Goal 3 Significant Recent Accomplishments

    • Assisted States in planning, developing and implementing statewide systems of coordinated early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities, including those who were drug-exposed.

    • Evaluated three models of early intervention services for children exposed prenatally to cocaine, including a center-based program, home visit program, and monitoring program that does not include direct services.

    • Assisted more than 17,000 individuals with a primary or secondary disabling condition resulting from drug abuse to achieve an employment outcome under the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grant program.