Apodaca: School district shows early success signs with substance abuse recovery program

Last month, a woman rescued her five-year-old son by prying his head from the mouth of a mountain lion that had attacked the boy in front of their Colorado home.

While the mother’s actions were heroic, they were also relatable to all parents who have seen their children in trouble and instinctively clicked into a fiercely protective mode. They know without hesitation that they would do anything to shield their kids from danger.

But what if the threat they see is complicated and insidious, one that can’t be defeated in one daring display of parental fortitude?

For parents of children dealing with substance abuse issues, every day can feel as if they’re reaching into the mouth of a lion and trying to tear their kids from its powerful grip. Many struggle to find effective ways to help their kids with drug and alcohol problems, but find they simply can’t do it alone. Some don’t realize the depth of the problem until it’s far beyond their control.

That’s why Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s fledgling Navig8 program, designed to provide comprehensive support for students coping with drug and alcohol abuse, is a worthy endeavor.

The district debuted Navig8 last fall with the intent to direct, under one coordinated banner, an array of prevention and intervention services to students ages 13 to 17 and their parents.

Navig8 — the name is an acronym for the needlessly clunky “Necessary and Valuable Insight to Gain Access Toward their Education,” but let’s overlook that — marks a welcome new level of proactive, in-house efforts to replace or augment services that were previously handled only through contracts with outside agencies.

“It’s a huge step for our district,” said Phil D’Agostino, N-MUSD’s director of student services.

After administering the program for nearly a full school year, D’Agostino has seen some encouraging signs.

A total of 119 students have gone through so far, about a five-fold increase from previous years’ numbers of kids targeted by the district for intervention. The students were identified because they were caught with banned substances at school or at school-sanctioned events. Others were referred into the program by school counselors or psychologists. Some students self-admitted themselves.

These students underwent a three- to-five-day training program, overseen by a licensed clinical social worker, that included an educational element, guest speakers, counseling sessions and assistance with coping skills. Parents were asked to participate in their own evening sessions focused on learning to identify warning signs and to communicate more effectively with their children. After the program, a social worker checked regularly on students’ progress.

An emphasis has been placed on developing a team approach that requires the involvement and cooperative efforts of professionals in different disciplines, from psychologists to administrators. And while disciplinary actions are also often employed, a priority has been to address students’ substance-abuse problems in the context of all their physical and mental-health issues — the “whole child” concept.

D’Agostino told me the thing he’s learned the most is how truly useful a multi-pronged approach has been to dealing with students’ well-being.

“A silo mentality will not work,” he added.

The response from students so far has been largely positive. More than 80% of those entering the program saw it through to completion, a rate that’s nearly one-third higher than when such services were contracted out.

Additionally, about 75% of the kids who went through the program said they learned something new, 90% indicated they learned at least one new way to deal with control issues, three-fourths felt they built relationships with peers in the program, and half said they would consider not using substances in the future.

That feedback might not seem like an overwhelming victory, but it’s still an indication of solid progress. Indeed, it’s possible that school-based efforts are beginning to have an impact nationwide.

This year’s widely followed Monitoring the Future survey of drug use and attitudes among American eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders showed the continuation of some positive trends, with decreasing use of alcohol, cigarettes and many illicit drugs over the last five years. It also reported less use of synthetic drugs and declining misuse of prescription drugs.

There were a few caveats in the survey. It highlighted continuing concerns over the high rate of electronic cigarette use and flat levels of marijuana use, as well as a softening of attitudes regarding some types of drugs, particularly marijuana.

D’Agostino has no illusions about the difficult challenge posed by drugs and alcohol, noting that any good news is tempered by the fact that usage rates remain disturbingly high among our youth. He plans to spend time this summer studying recidivism rates, and is bringing in partners such as Hoag’s chemical dependency unit for additional support.

“It’s a pervasive culture we are battling today,” he said. “It’s a big challenge.”

I’m never shy about criticizing the district when I believe it’s warranted. But when it comes to Navig8, I think it’s on the right track and deserves ample credit for taking this thoughtful, comprehensive and aggressive approach to pry open the jaws of the intractable problem of substance abuse among our children.

If there’s one program that warrants continued, robust support from parents and the community at large, this is it.

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PATRICE APODACA is a former Newport-Mesa public school parent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer. She lives in Newport Beach.