CPS Annual Report

Annual Center for
Report Prevention
Services
2014-2015

Mission: Pathways is the gateway to services which empower
the community to achieve success.

Vision: Pathways is the gateway to services which empower
the community to achieve success.

Pathways of Central Ohio is a certified prevention agency by the Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services

From the Director

Licking County’s prevention history is vast and varied, going all
the way back to 1968 and the creation of the agency. In the
beginning, the Newark Drug Forum, a volunteer-based drop-in
center helped Licking County residents cope with the effects
and after-effects of LSD and other hallucinogens. Citizens
would come to the drop-in center and stay protected as the
effects of the drug wore off. Since the late sixties, prevention
efforts have grown dramatically. The mid-eighties, brought
about the first youth-led initiative in the county, followed up
by programs like Wellness Partnership in the 1990s which helped to educate parents
and professionals about the impacts of substance use and abuse.

Today, the Center for Prevention Services (CPS) proudly offers multiple programs that
impact people at every stage of life and experience. We have evidence-based school
curriculums, best practice community-based services, award-winning youth-led
programming and innovative early intervention initiatives.

Since 2014, when the Ohio Departments of Alcohol & Drug Addiction Services and
Mental Health merged, we have been working diligently to expand our services beyond
substance use prevention to include additional behavioral health concerns including
suicide, bullying, and problem gambling prevention and mental health promotion and
wellness.

We have increased our evidence-based programs to include Stacked Deck, a program
designed to reduce risks associated with gambling and SOS (Signs of Suicide), a suicide
prevention curriculum for middle and high school students. CPS staff have all completed
the requirements to obtain the Bullying Prevention Specialist credential through the
American School Counselor’s Association and we’ve started to implement the Wellness
Initiative for Senior Education (WISE) program within our senior citizen community to
help promote good mental health and wellness.

What a wonderful year it has been and we have no plans to slow down anytime soon!

Bobby

Bobby Persinger, BPS, CIRS, OCPS II
Director, Center for Prevention Services
Pathways of Central Ohio

Program Highlights

School-Based Prevention Programming & Services:

The Center for Prevention Services (CPS) offers multiple best practice and evidence-based school
curriculums including Project ALERT and Botvin’s LifeSkills Training to every school district in
Licking County. In FY15, we provided school-based prevention services to 1,339 elementary,
middle and high school students including:

o Providing services to every 5th grade student at Jackson Intermediate School (Lakewood
Local Schools.)

o Providing services at to every 7th grade student at Adams Middle School (Johnstown-
Monroe Local Schools.)

o Providing services to every 9th grade student at Heath High School (Heath City Schools.)

Community-Based Prevention Programming & Services:

The Center for Prevention Services (CPS) engages the community in a multitude of ways including
community collaborations, one-time presentations and wellness trainings for area businesses. In
FY15, we served 3,245 people with community-based services including:

o Presenting a program on bullying and social development to 250 middle school boys at
Granville Middle School (Granville Exempted Village Schools).

o Providing prevention-based training and technical assistance to the staff of Carson
Elementary (Newark City Schools) to help meet educational content standards
established by the Ohio Department of Education.

o Serving on eleven local and state-wide coalitions including the Licking County Wellness
Coalition, Our Futures in Licking County and ADAPAO, the Alcohol & Drug Abuse
Prevention Association of Ohio.

Youth Leadership Council of Licking County:

The Youth Leadership Council (YLC) of Licking County is an award-winning youth-led prevention
project comprised of high school students from across the county who work to help make Licking
County a happy, healthy, safe and drug-free place to live, work and go to school. In FY15, 30 high
school students completed 38 unique projects (4,482 hours) designed to help them engage and
feel connected to the larger community and impact change in Licking County. Projects including:

o Raising awareness of domestic violence and $1500 for New Beginnings Shelter &
Services in a project titled Heels for Hope.

o Collecting 335 winter wear clothing items for the Salvation Army to distribute at the
Holidays.

o 225 high school students and educators spent a day learning about prevention
education, leadership development, and community engagement at the first Licking
County Leaders Summit.

Play It Safe Ohio:

Through Play It Safe Ohio, our problem gambling prevention initiative, we engaged and educated
the community on the effects and after-effects of pathological and problem gambling. In FY15, we
served 320,333 people with effective problem gambling prevention through strong environmental
campaigns in both Licking and Knox counties including:

o Maintaining playitsafeohio.org, a website with information about problem gambling,
self-evaluation tools and access to local and state-wide resources.

o Distributing 2500 brochures to lottery venues across the county with helpful inform
about issues associate with problem gambling and how to get help.

o Developed 15 problem gambling prevention ads for traditional and social media.

Licking County Prescription Drug Task Force:

The Licking County Prescription Drug Task Force is a community-wide collaborative effort to
address misuse and abuse of prescription medications and other addictive substances. Through
education, information dissemination and community-based projects including RxCollect, Licking
County’s permanent disposal program, the LCRxTF works to ensure Licking County is safe and
healthy. In FY15 we served 12,031 people through educational sessions and environmental
prevention campaigns including:

o Educating 439 middle and high school students on the dangers of prescription drug
abuse through the pHARMING Effects presentation.

o Installing the seventh and final RxCollect permanent disposal bin in Licking County
giving residents ample opportunity to safely dispose of any unused or expired
medications.

o Piloting the WISE (Wellness Initiative for Senior Education) program with twenty-five
senior citizens across the county helping them to better understand prescription
medication management and overall health and wellness.

Fiscal Management

We receive funding from federal, state and local sources Federal
including the Substance Abuse & Mental Health State
Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Ohio Department Local
of Mental Health & Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), Licking
County United Way and Mental Health & Recovery for
Licking and Knox Counties.

48% of our funding comes from federal dollars, 18% from
state entities and 34% from local sources, including private
donations, corporate sponsorships and community gifts.

Agency Leadership & Prevention Staff

Agency Leadership: Kristin McCloud, M.Ed
Executive Director Maureen Barnes, B.S., B.S.
Finance Director Bobby Persinger, BPS, CIRS, OCPS II
Director, Center for Prevention Services Heather Hickman, LSW, CDCA, OCPS I
Director, Parenting Education Center Walt Zang, LSW, CIRS
Director, 2-1-1/Crisis Hotline & Info Center Teri Peasley, M.S.
Director, Professional Development Center
Lezlie Ankrom, BPS, OCPSA
Prevention Staff: Krista Pruitt, BPS, OCPSA
Prevention Coordinator Connie S. Wright, BPS, OCPS I
Prevention Coordinator
Prevention Coordinator

1627 Bryn Mawr Dr.
Newark, OH 43055

(740) 345-6166

www.pathwaysofcentralohio.org