MID-AMERICA: Mid-America ATTC’s 2009 PFR/ATTC Leadership Institute Immersion Training was held March 30 – April 3, 2009 in Kansas City, MO. Twelve protégés and mentors were recruited from the 5-state region. As a result of discussion on the LI Coordinator conference calls, recruitment focused more on protégés with more supervisory experience this year. Following the speed introduction exercise, several mentors commented on the quality of the people in the group of protégés. Three of the twelve mentors are past protégés and of the remaining nine, five have served as mentors in the past. For more information contact Deborah Rockford at rockfordj@umkc.edu or 816.482.1175.

MID-AMERICA: Mid-America ATTC has developed a 2009 version of the Alcohol Awareness Month (April) faith community bulletin insert. This product can be easily downloaded and used by churches, temples and mosques for their Sunday/Sabbath-day bulletins, newsletters or bulletin boards. The 5½" X 8½" double-sided informational sheet provides:
> information about the disease of alcoholism
> effectiveness of evidence-based treatment in bringing about recovery
> what persons can do to become more informed about this disease
> what persons can do to help others suffering from alcohol addiction
> what faith communities can do to provide support services
The bulletin insert in pdf is available in both color and black & white. Both the color and B&W versions can be downloaded from the Mid-America ATTC web pages at: http://www.attcnetwork.org/regcenters/productresources.asp?rcid=5 and also appear on the ATTC Network Resources web pages. Other ATTCs may certainly share these with faith community groups in their regions. Mid-America ATTC would be glad to provide these documents in InDesign so a regional ATTC can insert its own ATTC logo if desired. Please let Jan Wrolstad know if you would like InDesign versions and these will be sent to you. (Note: In order to open and work with the product, you must have InDesign software on your computer.) For more information about these inserts, contact Jan Wrolstad, 816.482.1150.
Directions for printing:
This alcohol awareness bulletin insert is designed as a two-sided 5.5”w X 8.5”h sheet. To accommodate the typical office printer, the pdf file has been set up to print 2 inserts per 8.5” X 11” sheet. Print page one first, then flip the paper according to your printer specifications in order to print page two. (Consider doing a test print first to be sure it prints correctly.) Once printed, a paper cutter can be used to cut the 8.5” X 11” sheets in half down the middle to create the 5.5”w X 8.5”h inserts.

NEW ENGLAND: The ATTC of New England is offering an online course entitled Introduction to Problem and Pathological Gambling: Knowledge and Education.This workshop will offer an introduction to gambling and how it has become a serious problem in our society. During this four week workshop participants will learn and understand what gambling is and the various types of gamblers there are. They will also learn the various forms of gambling are available, as well as the phases of gambling and the characteristics of the gambler. We will also discuss how gambling affects the family as well. The course will conclude with learning and understanding of the various treatments available for family members and those with a gambling problem. For additional information, please contact attcdl@brown.edu or go to www.attcnetwork.org/newengland.

CARIBBEAN BASIN: Growing up in Puerto Rico” (Creciendo en Puerto Rico) is a one day conference taking place on May 6, 2009. This conference was developed to disseminate research findings from a project funded by the National Institute on Drugs Abuse (NIDA). This research aims to understand the role of neighborhoods, family, school and peers with school dropout, premature sex, drug use and violent behavior among a cohort of Puerto Rican adolescents. Among the results, presenters will indicate that older adolescents whose mother used drugs during pregnancy, who reported high rates of absenteeism and attended school where teachers were attacked or wounded by students, were more likely to dropout of school. Adolescent violence was directly associated with all the factors that compromised social disorder which can be described as threatening behaviors by individuals in public places. However, only the presence of abandoned vehicles was associated with physical disorder which is described as environmental deterioration of urban landscapes, such as abandoned properties, graffiti, and shooting galleries. We are inviting leaders from the community to comment on these findings. The event will consist of 6 contact hour and will be delivered by cadre of researchers. The event will be at the Universidad Central del Caribe premises in Bayamon. For more information contact Maria del Mar Garcia at (787)785-4211 or mgarcia@uccaribe.edu

CENTRAL EAST: Central East ATTC's eighth annual Keeping It Real 2009 Conference will be held September 30-October 2, 2009 at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland. This conference will provide cutting-edge information on issues related to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and substance abuse. All outreach workers, substance abuse counselors, and other related healthcare personnel who work with the drug-addicted and HIV/AIDS/HCV population are encouraged to attend. The conference will cover the seven Outreach Competencies developed by the Center for HIV, Hepatitis, and Addiction Training and Technology (CHHATT). The three tracks for the Breakout sessions will be:
> Skills training: Research-based approaches for outreach, prevention and treatment of the diverse population served by the HIV/AIDS outreach worker.
> Self Care for the outreach/prevention worker. Evidence-based techniques and processes will be presented in a series of workshops focusing on keeping the outreach/prevention workers and counselors healthy and available for clients.
> The latest research and evidence-based practices on outreach and intervention of injection drug use
Attendees will find this an informative and interactive forum providing the most up-to-date information and techniques available in the field. Registration is at www.ATTCnetwork.org/centraleast. Please contact the following people for more information: Kathleen Hauck; 240-645-1142, khauck@danyainstitute.org and/or Tamara Parris; 240-645-1146, tparris@danyainstitute.org.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST: Adopting Changes in Addiction Treatment Learning Collaborative Kick-Off Workshop. UCLA ISAP, in conjunction with the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment National Program Office, and the County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators’ Association of California is conducting a series of full-day on adopting changes in addiction treatment agencies. Several topics will be discussed throughout the interactive workshop, including: NIATx aims and principles, the “3 ACTIONS,” and key change team roles; the agency walk-through; using the Quick Start Road Map to plan for change; PDSA rapid-cycle change projects; measuring the impact of change; ACTION Kits and other data collection tools; choosing key problems and motivating a change team. Each participating agency should plan to send a team of three staff members (with varying levels of decision-making authority and responsibilities) to the daylong kick-off. Training dates are as follows:
> April 2, 2009 – Rialto, CA
> April 21, 2009 – Sacramento, CA
> April 22, 2009 – San Rafael, CA
> May 14, 2009 – Red Bluff, CA
> May 19, 2009 – Fresno, CA
In the end, approximately 150-200 treatment agencies/county administrative teams and 500-600 people will receive this training. For more information, please contact Beth Rutkowski at finnerty@ucla.edu.

MID-AMERICA: Mid-America ATTC recently hosted a group of faculty members and students from the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling and Disabilities Studies at Langston University for a collaborative training program visit to the Mid-America ATTC office in Kansas City. On April 22-24, 15 individuals comprised of faculty members, graduate students and the director of addictions treatment training in Oklahoma visited the Mid-America ATTC office to learn about curriculum and resources that might be of use in their mini-grant projects. Doris Wilson, Mid-America ATTC Director of Finance, hosted the group along with Mid-America ATTC Project Assistant, Doris Rogers. Pat Stilen, Director and Jan Wrolstad, Associate Director provided the informational sessions on ATTC, CSAT and NIDA products and resources. Langston University is a historically black college and university (HBCU) located in Langston, Oklahoma. Recently Langston University received two SAMHSA/CSAT mini-grants through the 2009 Dr. Lonnie E. Mitchell Behavioral Health Policy Academy for HBCUs. The goals of these two mini-grants are: 1) to increase the number of Langston University students interning in the substance abuse field—$5,000 and 2) to increase the number of campus organizations that provide information to enhance student knowledge of mental health and substance abuse issues—$10,000. For more information contact Doris Wilson at wilsondo@umkc.edu or 816.482.1120.

NIDA Initiative Activities