Protecting Children From Substance Abuse—Free to Grow

Substance abuse is one of our nation’s most serious health problems. It is also associated with a large number of social ills, such as prenatal drug exposure, family violence, child abuse, crime, neighborhood gang activity, and unemployment. In 1994, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched Free to Grow, an initiative which targets families and communities of Head Start children to create changes that will protect them from substance abuse and related problems.

An executive summary from Mathematica presents findings from the evaluation of the Free to Grow pilot program. The focus is on five grantees and how they implemented this substance abuse prevention initiative designed to strengthen low-income families and communities. The grantees were in Compton, California; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Owensboro, Kentucky; New York, New York; and Canovanas, Puerto Rico. These grantees developed, tested, and implemented their models with training and technical assistance from the Free to Grow National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC) at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

The evaluation concluded that implementing substance abuse prevention strategies in partnership with Head Start is feasible and can add value to the Head Start program. It also suggested that the Free to Grow program may be appropriate and attractive to other communities facing similar challenges. Participants in Free to Grow felt that it brought about important family and community changes.

Click here for a copy of the final report. For printed copies, contact Jackie Allen at (609) 275-2350.

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