Funding Prevention Makes Sense (JoinTogether)

Not that we didn't really know this already but it's always nice to have it reinforced with research...

"Every dollar invested in substance-abuse prevention yields $10 in savings, according to researchers from Iowa State University who recently presented their findings to the United Nations." Read the rest from JoinTogether.org (February 4, 2009)

From ISU:
"The ISU researchers applied their own and national data to calculate both the cost effectiveness and cost benefit for two of PPSI's intervention programs -- Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), which works on the family level to prevent substance abuse; and the Life Skills Training Program (LST), which was designed for school-based implementation. Spoth defines cost effectiveness as the cost to achieve a particular outcome -- such as the prevention of an alcohol use disorder -- while the cost benefit assesses whether savings generated by prevention are greater than costs spent on prevention."

*Of note, our coalition will be working with 3 Portland schools over the next few years to implement Life Skills so we'll be sure to keep you posted!