Guiding Good Choices (formerly Preparing for the Drug Free Years)

Guiding Good Choices (formerly known as Preparing for the Drug-Free Years) is a skills-training program for middle school students and their parents typically implemented outside normal school hours. The five-session drug resistance and education program, implemented one night per week for five weeks, aims to improve parent-child interactions that reduce the risk for substance use initiation. Sessions typically last two hours each and include a mix of group discussions, workbook activities, role plays, and multimedia presentations. Program content includes education about the prevalence of substance use and risk and protective factors associated with use, and the development of strategies in the home to prevent use (Session 1), establishing expectations and guidelines within the home regarding substance use (Session 2), education and opportunities to practice refusal skills (Session 3), managing family conflict and constructively handling disputes between family members (Session 4), and strategies for engaging the adolescent in family activities and ways to create supportive networks among parents (Session 5). Parents are required to attend all five sessions while the adolescent is required to attend Session 3. (Source)

Washingnton State Institute of Promising Practices benefit-cost report (rated: Research-Based)

Category: 

Support Tier: 

Age Range: 

Language: 

Ethnicity: 

Community Type: