Student Assistance Services: Early Prevention/Intervention Works!

For twenty years, Washington's Student Assistance Prevention/Intervention Services Program (SAPISP) has been providing interventions to effectively reduce risk factors and strengthen protective factors to help all students achieve academic excellence and realize their personal potential. These interventions, based on the findings of other successful prevention programs, have assisted more than 225 schools in Washington (including 86 regional schools).

Youth involved in the SAPISP exhibit:

• Decreased substance use (23% decrease in alcohol use, 28% decrease in marijuana use).
• Decreased behavioral issues (15% decrease in fighting at school, 10% decrease in suspensions).
• Increased perception of harm of substance use (16% increase in the harmfulness of marijuana use, 11% increase in the harmfulness of alcohol use).*

Early intervention is a good investment. Every $1 spent on early intervention services yields $7 of savings through decreased truancy, violence, disciplinary programs, school security and other expenses.**

During the 2007-2008 school year, SAPISP was responsible for:

• Providing intervention, screening, and case management services to more than 16,886 students.
• Referring 5,080 students for an Alcohol Other Drug assessment.
• Identifying 3,261 students as having a co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorder (COD) through its screening process.
• Supporting treatment participation for 1,881 students.
• Conducting more than 1,800 parent conferences.
• Providing more than 50,000 prevention activities in schools across the state.

Having student assistance professionals in schools provides routine opportunities for thousands of students to receive prevention messages, as well as intervention and referral services. Such exposure is unparalleled in community agencies with limited reach.

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*SAPISP Program Outcome Data; RMC Research Corporation; Portland, OR

**Benefits and Costs of Prevention and Early Intervention Programs for Youth; Washington State Institute for Public Policy; Seattle, WA