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The
Reconnecting Youth in Iowa (RYII) Project is a joint effort of
the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa State University -
Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, and 5 Iowa high
schools (Des Moines North, Independence, Sioux City West, Storm Lake
and Washington. The Principal Investigator for the RYII project is
Dr. Jerry Stubben. Dr. Cathy Hockaday is evaluation director and
Robin Heinemann is the intervention director. This project focuses
on the adaptation of a program entitled Reconnecting Youth (RY),
originally developed in 1985 by Dr. Leona Eggert at the University
of Washington, for urban and suburban high schools, to Iowa - and
rural high schools where the majority of high schools enroll fewer
than 1,000 students. The RYII adaptation project began on October 1,
1999 and will end on April 28, 2003. The generalization has
generated several products that facilitate the fidelity of
replication and further testing in other settings, which include an
implementation manual; a process and outcomes evaluation manual; an
updated version of the curriculum which includes ATOD curriculum;
group and mentoring components and a project web site.
Presently, the five original
schools have found funding to continue the Reconnecting Youth in
Iowa program and Washington High School has received a three year
U.S. Department of Education grant to adapt a parent and community
component. Drs. Stubben and Hockaday received funding from the
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) to expand the RYII
program to Boone High School for the implementation and evaluation
of an expanded mentoring component over the next year and a half.
Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Spencer and Sioux City Public schools
have received funds from the CSAP State Incentive Grants to
implement Reconnecting Youth in Iowa at additional school sites in
their districts from October 1, 2002 to September 30, 2005. The
RYII team at ISBR will assist with training, evaluate and
implementation of the RYII curriculum at these additional school
sites. |
