# Presentation: 063389

## Building Blocksfor aHealthy Future

*Discover, Learn, and Explore*

**Notes:**
What Is Building Blocks for a Healthy Future?
An early childhood substance abuse prevention program that educates parents and caregivers about the basics of prevention in order to promote a healthy lifestyle. 
Designed for parents and caregivers of children ages 3 to 6.
Developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Because it’s federally produced, all materials are free of charge.
Developed because research showed a gap in the literature for children in this age range.

## Introductions

- <Presenter 1’s name>	 	<Presenter 1’s organization>
- <Presenter 2’s name>
- 	<Presenter 2’s organization>

**Notes:**
The development team for Building Blocks is a cadre of early childhood development specialists, Federal public health officers, and publication specialists.

We all worked together to make Building Blocks fit the needs of parents and educators, based on the most current research.

(Introduce facilitators.)

## Background

- Developed by HHS/SAMHSA/CSAP
- SAMHSA’s vision: “A life in the community for everyone”
- SAMHSA’s mission: “Building resilience and facilitating recovery”
- CSAP’s mission: “To bring effective substance abuse prevention to every community, nationwide”

**Notes:**
Now, we’re going to introduce the “boss”—the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Within Department of Health and Human Services, we work with SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and CSAP, the Center for Substance Abuse.

As you can see from the vision and mission statements, these agencies reach out to communities nationwide to create a healthier, better educated public.

## SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework

- Matrix priority programs include substance abuse prevention and children and families
- Improve accountability, capacity, and effectiveness—ACE

**Notes:**
To bring its vision and mission into practice, SAMHSA created a matrix of priority programs with core priority areas that include substance abuse prevention and children and families.

Priority program areas are linked to crosscutting principles that help ensure SAMHSA’s work will meet the highest standards, driven by a strategy to improve Accountability, Capacity, and Effectiveness—ACE.

By taking part in Building Blocks, you become part of ACE—our training and evaluation of Building Blocks will help us be sure our strategies and materials work!

## Building Blocks and the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework

- Get communities involved in prevention
- Are based on risk and protective factors
- Allow target audiences to help reduce risk factors and to promote protective factors
- Adhere to the five-step logic orientation for meaningful prevention results

**Notes:**
Building Blocks and the SAMHSA Strategic Prevention Framework [C1] get communities involved in prevention through schools, daycare providers, faith communities, the medical community, and parents and caregivers. These outlets can use the Building Blocks materials to promote early childhood prevention. 
The materials are based on current knowledge of risk and protective factors. They allow target audiences to develop personal or community-level strategies to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors to prevent substance use and foster healthy lifestyles for children ages 3 to 6.
Building Blocks adheres to the five-step logic orientation for meaningful prevention results:
The program profiled the needs of children ages 3 to 6 and what would work     in an early childhood substance abuse prevention program.
Building Blocks introduced training to the community through partnerships with the National Head Start Association and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
The kit materials form the prevention program.
Through dissemination and additional trainings, the program will be implemented in communities across the country.
The evaluation phase is in development.

## Introducing...Building Blocks

**Helps children...**
- Express their feelings and thoughts through good communication
- Form healthy, lifelong habits and attitudes
- Learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy activities
- Practice making decisions, gain confidence, and improve self-esteem

**Notes:**
Building Blocks provides a forum for children to express their feelings and thoughts as they play and work with parents, caregivers, and friends.

This program helps children form healthy, lifelong habits and attitudes about exercise, healthy eating, friendships, and responsibility. It allows them to see all available choices and encourages them to make healthy choices.

Building Blocks provides activities and suggestions to help you help children make healthy decisions, gain confidence, and improve self-esteem.

## How Does Building Blocks Work?

**All the parts and pieces...**
- Family Guide
- Activity Book (3–4, 5–6)
- ABC Coloring Book
- Know Kit Cards (3–4, 5–6)
- Character Cards
- Music CD
- Web site

**Notes:**
Now that we’ve talked about Building Blocks in a broad sense, let’s introduce it more specifically. You have a kit in front of you. Let’s look at each item. 
The Family Guide is the cornerstone of the kit. It provides parents and caregivers with information about prevention and an overview of the materials in the kit and how to use them. Also included are discussion starters and activities that guide exploration and discovery. 
The Activity Book corresponds to the music CD and includes activities and games that reinforce positive, skill-building behaviors. It is divided into ages 3–4 and ages 5–6.
The ABC Coloring Book provides simple coloring activities that reinforce pre-reading skills, including letter recognition and alliterative language.
The Know Kit Cards, divided into 3- to 4-year-old and 5- to 6-year-old sets, feature age-appropriate discussion starters and activities that parents and caregivers can use with their children. 
The Character Cards provide children the opportunity to “bond” with the characters and to validate their own feelings and actions based on what the characters like to do and how they feel about themselves and others. 
The music CD, with its funny lyrics and toe-tapping music, captures the imagination and puts the lessons of the Activity Book into rhymes and rhythms that will reinforce healthy behaviors. 

## Building Blocks Web Sitewww.bblocks.samhsa.gov

- Site features fun activities and new ideas that parents and caregivers can use with children
- Join the *Building Blocks* Bulletin to get regular e-mail updates!

## Goals

- Educate parents and caregivers about the basics of risk and protective factors
- Assist parents and caregivers with ways to reduce risk factors
- Reinforce skills that will enable caregivers to better nurture and protect their children in order to reduce substance abuse and to promote healthy lifestyles

**Notes:**
Building Blocks for a Healthy Future is for parents and caregivers of children 3 to 6. 

Its goal is to educate parents and caregivers about the basics of prevention so that they can nurture and protect children and help them develop healthy, pro-social behaviors and attitudes. It aims to make children of the future risk-resistant rather than at-risk.

## Today’s Objectives

**Participants will...**
- Examine risk and protective factors
- Focus on prevention for young children
- Explore *Building Blocks *materials
- Discover and share ways to use the materials
- Create action plans

**Notes:**
This is not a sit-and-listen workshop—you’ll be on your feet and using your hands and heads as you: 
Examine risk and protective factors in community case studies through team discussion and group presentations.
Focus on prevention for young children, ages 3 to 6, through brainstorming and role-play.
Use hands-on activities to explore Building Blocks materials—the Family Guide, Know Kit Cards, Character Cards, ABC Coloring Book, music CD, and Activity Book.
Discover and share appropriate and innovative ways to use the materials in many settings—at school; at home; in community groups; and with national curricula, standards, and your own lesson plans.
Create action plans for disseminating, implementing, and promoting Building Blocks.

## The Friends

- Wally Bear
- Ali Rabbit
- Mee Possum
- Thurgood Turtle
- Miguel Tiger
- Sandy Squirrel
- Kristi Kitty

**Notes:**
Now it’s time to meet our furry friends who help all of us engage children in activities, songs, dance, and games. 

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- VERSE 1:*You’ve got to jump down**Look around**Smile at your neighbor*
*Jump down**Look around**Smile and say “hello”*
- (REPEAT)

*Oh yeah, everyone is different**Oh yeah, everyone’s a star*
*Oh yeah, everyone is welcome**Oh yeah, just the way you are*

**Notes:**
One of the things we think is important is to get people communicating, working together, and feeling good about themselves and others. So, we’re going to start with all of you.

Let’s get up and dance.

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- VERSE 2:*You’ve got to spin down**Look around**Smile at your neighbor*
*Spin down**Look around**Smile and say “hello”*
- (REPEAT)

*Oh yeah, everyone is different**Oh yeah, everyone’s a star*
*Oh yeah, everyone is welcome**Oh yeah, just the way you are*

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- CHORUS:*Look around the room**And what do I see?**Beautiful faces smiling Back at me*

*Look around the room**And what do I know?**Lots of colors in the Human rainbow*

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- VERSE 3:*You’ve got to jump down**Look around**Smile at your neighbor*
*Jump down**Look around**Smile and say “hello”*
- (REPEAT)

*Oh yeah, everyone is different**Oh yeah, everyone’s a star*
*Oh yeah, everyone is welcome**Oh yeah, just the way you are*

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- VERSE 4:*You’ve got to twist down**Look around**Smile at your neighbor*
*Twist down**Look around**Smile and say “hello”*
- (REPEAT)

*Oh yeah, everyone is different**Oh yeah, everyone’s a star*
*Oh yeah, everyone is welcome**Oh yeah, just the way you are*

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- CHORUS:*Look around the room**And what do I see?**Beautiful faces smiling Back at me*

*Look around the room**And what do I know?**Lots of colors in the Human rainbow*

## Smile at Your Neighbor

- VERSE 5:*You’ve got to jump down**Look around**Smile at your neighbor*
*Jump down**Look around**Smile and say “hello”*
- (REPEAT)

*Oh yeah, everyone is different**Oh yeah, everyone’s a star*
*Oh yeah, everyone is welcome**Oh yeah, just the way you are*
- (REPEAT)

**Notes:**
With just one song, Building Blocks helps children get physical, practice following directions, increase self-confidence, and appreciate diversity.

## Basics of Prevention

**Build...**
- Resiliency
- Confidence
- Self-esteem

**Notes:**
As teachers and leaders, you help build risk-resistant children every day. 
You give them skills to understand the world around them. 
You help them solve the little problems—from tying their shoes to figuring out the best way to share toys. 
You help them learn to make decisions—from choosing cheese toast for lunch to deciding that the sliding board is a risk they can take. 
Show two springs or spring people. (Note: To make “spring people,” attach a head, hands, and feet to each spring—one very resilient, one easily bent out of shape.) 
Each one of these simple tasks builds self-confidence and improves self-esteem. This makes our children resilient. Look at this spring—here’s a child facing turmoil at home or difficulty in school. Every difficult step stretches his or her ability to spring back. Without resiliency, we have a child who cannot spring back—one who is at risk. 
We want to build resilient children. (Show the resilient spring). These children may hit the same roadblocks and face the same difficult family and community situations, but they spring back. Everything we do to strengthen our children makes them more likely to stay healthy—physically and emotionally. Children have to be resilient because our world is filled with risk.

## Case Studies

**Communities**
- Goldendale
- Mountain Lakes
- Ryder
- South Metropolis

**Notes:**
You’re going to be community investigators—super sleuths who find and examine data to determine the health of a community.

Your packet includes color-coded community sheets. They’re easy to find. They begin on page 15 with the colored sheets.  When I finish giving directions, we’ll divide you into groups according to community profile. (Divide participants into four groups based on the communities.)

## Color-Coded Community Profiles

- Overview
- Schools
- Housing
- Crime
- Recreation
- High-risk behavior

**Notes:**
Each community profile is divided into six sections. Each section contains clues about the risk and protective factors for that community.

## Community Assignment

- Read the checklists of risk and protective factors
- Read your community profile to find and highlight risk and protective factors
- Identify examples to illustrate specific risk and protective factors
- Assign a group reporter and recorder

**Notes:**
You have three assignments:
Read the lists of risk and protective factors found right behind the community profiles. 
Read your community profile, focusing on—even underlining—those risk and protective factors highlighted within your community.
Finally, work within your group to identify examples within your fictitious community that illustrate specific risk and protective factors, and complete your checklists of risk and protective factors.
Remember, we’re going to have time to share our detective work, so be sure to assign a reporter who will be responsible for writing discussion points and examples and reporting to the rest of the group. Also assign a recorder who will check off the risk and protective factors on the wall charts. In this way, we’ll be able to make some specific comparisons among the communities.

## Risk Factors

- Do you find the highest risk factors in your community profile to be within the _community_, _family_, _school_, or _individual/peer_?
- What specific things within this community may contribute to increased risk for young people?

**Notes:**
Note: Invite the reporter from each group to share risk and protective factors found in their readings. Allow time for whole group discussion to compare the communities. Have chart paper lists ready for groups to check off so that you can illustrate how the factors compare.

## Protective Factors

- In your community profile, do the most positive, protective programs and services serve the _community_, _family_, _school_, or _individual/peer_?
- What are the strongest elements contributing to increased protection?

**Notes:**
Note: Invite the reporter from each group to share risk and protective factors found in their readings. Allow time for whole group discussion to compare the communities. Have chart paper lists ready for groups to check off so that you can illustrate how the factors compare.

## National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)Prevention Research

- Enhance protective factors
- Reverse or reduce risk factors

**Notes:**
Working with our fictitious communities, we identified risk and protective factors for drug abuse. If we take a little time, we all can probably see indications of some of these same positive and negative factors in our own communities. 
Understanding these factors helps us select and create effective prevention programs. 
In more than 20 years of research, NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has found that prevention programs must be designed to enhance protective factors and reverse or reduce risk factors.
The most critical areas for prevention programs are building positive family and peer relationships.
If we look at the major precepts of Building Blocks, we can see how this prevention program meets NIDA’s tested principles in all areas. 

## Building Blocks and NIDA’s “Must List”

- Build life skills, strengthen personal attitudes, and increase social competency
- Use developmentally appropriate interactive methods
- Give parents and caregivers appropriate skills
- Focus on the family
- Provide age-specific and culturally sensitive material

**Notes:**
Building Blocks addresses the most critical principles of NIDA-supported research.

The Friends introduce children to sports, activities, and hobbies that can last a lifetime. They help children talk about their bodies, their self-image, their feelings, their friends, and their families.

Whether children are drawing, discussing, building, imagining, counting, observing, questioning, exploring, or discovering, Building Blocks uses developmentally appropriate and interactive learning methods that address all learning styles.

Building Blocks builds parenting skills for caregivers of children ages 3–6. All materials are centered around participating with children, not just providing something for children to do.

Building Blocks focus on the family includes encouraging interactions among family members as well as helping parents and children see their individual roles in creating a healthy family atmosphere and warm relationships.

The Friends are characters specifically developed to appeal to 3- to 6-year-olds. Their physical appearance, names, and characteristics address diversity while stressing inclusiveness. Because there is a great deal of developmental difference among 3- to 6-year-olds, many Building Blocks activities are divided into 3–4 and 5–6 age groups.

## Building Blocks: Precepts

- Good talking, good listening
- Time with your kids
- Living with rules
- Walk the walk
- Kids with kids
- Show and tell

**Notes:**
The Building Blocks materials are based on six action steps parents and caregivers can take to help children make healthy choices. These six precepts are founded on research-based messages set forth in other Center for Substance Abuse Prevention publications and are proven resiliency factors against alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use. 
Each of these precepts relates directly to what NIDA researchers and substance abuse prevention professionals call family-related protective factors, situations and conditions that decrease a child’s chances for engaging in drug-related and other risky behaviors. 
1. Good talking, good listening encourages parents and caregivers to establish and maintain good communication with their children by talking with them in a positive, caring manner to foster warm, close relationships and to build strong, positive bonds within a pro-social family. Communication is a two-way street—we must learn to listen, not just talk to our children. Given the opportunity in a safe and warm environment, children will share their feelings, their fears, and their ideas.
2. Time with your kids guides parents and caregivers to get involved and stay involved through day-to-day activities at school, at home, and in other environments. Educational research shows that parental involvement in children’s activities benefits students academically and socially at every age. Setting aside special time together with children when they are younger will develop a habit that likely will continue as children grow.
3. Living with rules provides guidelines for parents and caregivers to make clear rules of conduct and to enforce them with consistency and appropriate consequences. Setting rules and helping children understand the consequences of not following the rules sets a pattern of responsible behavior. 
4. Walk the walk helps parents and caregivers become positive role models for children by creating a healthy lifestyle and avoiding illegal, unhealthy, or dangerous drug use. Young children like to imitate others. They need and look for positive role models—real and fictional—on which to base their behaviors. The Friends each model healthful behaviors, and caregiver interactions using the materials and information in the kit also set up model behaviors. 
5. Kids with kids encourages parents and caregivers to teach children to choose friends wisely by helping them develop strategies to feel comfortable, develop leadership skills, and act appropriately in social situations. As a result, children are more likely to make their own choices rather than follow inappropriate behaviors.
6. Show and tell provides tips for monitoring children’s activities through promoting relationships with friends and parents; setting up regular check-in routines; and providing structured, healthy activities.

## Target 3–6

- Children as young as age 3 may be exposed to, or are aware of, the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, whether in their personal lives or through the media.
- Physical, emotional, and social behaviors become habits at an early age.
- Setting up a pattern of early interaction and parental involvement provides future benefits for students academically and socially.

**Notes:**
Why focus on ages 3–6? Certainly there are no statistics that show that preschoolers have alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug problems. However, there are 18 million children under age 5 in the United States, and their caregivers need support. 

Children as young as age 3 may be exposed to, or are aware of, the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs, whether in their personal lives or through the media. 

Even the youngest children build habits—foods they like to eat, things they like to do, people they like to be with. If children are used to eating sugary cereal for a snack, it may be more difficult to help them select celery, peanut butter, and raisins. If they don’t make a habit of getting physical exercise when they are younger, they may not choose to move from in front of the television as they get older. If they form a habit of doing whatever their peers want to do, whether or not they know it’s poor behavior, they will have a hard time resisting peer pressure as they grow older.

Research shows parental involvement in children’s activities benefits students academically and socially at every age. 

Set up a pattern of early interaction to develop communication skills—talk in the car or grocery store, play games together, know how to ask questions. Develop these communication patterns early, and you not only keep the lines of communication open between parent and child throughout the growing years, but you also help your child develop good reading skills, positive self-esteem, and better communication with peers. 

As a result, children will be more likely to make their own choices rather than follow inappropriate behaviors. The earlier parents and caregivers interact and get involved, the more likely they are to have risk-resistant children who will continue to make healthy choices. 

## The Family Guide

- Getting Started
- Six Main Topics for Positive, Healthy Choices
- Tips on ...
- What Do You Think?
- Discussion Starters
- Things To Do
- Resources: Online and Offline

**Notes:**
The Family Guide is the cornerstone of the materials. We used “family” in the title of the Family Guide to include all types of families—parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, other caregivers, daycare providers, and teachers. The role of the family in all of its forms is critical in early childhood prevention. There also are many ways to adapt the Family Guide for a classroom setting.

Let’s take a closer look at the Family Guide. Flip through the Family Guide at your seat. It is set up to engage caregivers and to provide illustrative examples of good nurturing and teaching skills. The Family Guide presents an overview of the importance of early childhood prevention and family involvement, the power of the family’s influence, and a discussion of resiliency factors. It explains how each Building Blocks product can be used and offers suggestions for maximizing the reach and effectiveness of each product. It also provides specific examples of discussion and hands-on activities that support caregiver involvement and interaction at home, at school, or on the go.

The guide begins with Getting Started, introducing readers to the six prevention topics for healthy choices, which each form a chapter of the guide. 
Each chapter is divided into four subsections:
The Tips on... section offers specific tips on each chapter topic—for example, tips on talking suggests ways to improve communication, such as asking questions that require more than a one-word answer.
What Do You Think? allows readers to examine their understanding of the topic by providing scenarios and decisions to review.
Discussion Starters provide questions that parents and caregivers can use to engage their children. 
Things To Do includes games and activities to reinforce the positive, healthy choices that children are learning.
The back of the Family Guide offers online and offline resources for parents and caregivers. 

## Family Guide: Assignment

- How would you use this activity to work with a particular parent or child?
- How would you adapt this activity to work in your classroom?
- How does this activity relate to problem-solving; child development; and an effort to help children explore, learn, and discover within their environment?
- How does this activity relate to protective factors and prevention?

**Notes:**
You and your group have about 15 minutes to explore your assigned section of the Family Guide. Then, you should select an area or activity that you would like to present to the whole group.

You might choose to role-play the “What Do You Think?” or “Discussion Starters” sections, then lead a discussion or create visual aids to teach the featured concept. Or, you might choose one or two activities from the section to demonstrate and discuss, including creating sample products, performing skits, or making posters.

No matter what you choose to share, you should be prepared to discuss:
How would you use the activity or information with a particular parent or child or how could it be adapted to work in your classroom setting?
How does this activity relate to problem-solving; child development; and an effort to help children explore, learn, and discover within their environment?
How does this activity relate to protective factors and prevention?

Remember, you’ll have about 15 minutes to go through your assigned section and choose a topic or activity to present. 

## Head Start Child Outcomes Framework

**Curriculum Matrix **
**Domain      ****	****   Element          *****Building Blocks***** ****	****	****	****	****	**** Product**

**Notes:**
We’ve made sure that the materials support the curriculum you teach. Look at the “Head Start Child Outcomes” in your booklets. Let’s look at the specific skills addressed in the “Who Am I?” game:
Language Development (Listening and Understanding, Speaking and Communicating).
Literacy (Print Awareness and Concepts [picture reading]).
Approaches to Learning (Reasoning and Problem Solving [inference]).
Social and Emotional Development (Cooperation [game playing]).
Let’s look at a couple of the activities you presented to the group and see where they fit into the curriculum. What domain do they fit into? What element? 
By reading the matrix, can you see what other materials you might use to reinforce this particular element? 
Can you find another domain that these activities might reach? 
You can see that Head Start makes sure to hit the resiliency factors outside of the academic domains through:
Social and Emotional Development.
Approaches to Learning.
Physical Health and Development.

## National Standards K–1

- English Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- Arts Education

**Notes:**
Building Blocks also addresses the K–1 National Standards to make the materials an effective tool in public elementary schools. 
“Who Am I?” fits English Language Arts (Spoken Communication, Reading Skills) and Social Studies (Individual Development and Identity).  
To find resiliency factors, look in Social Studies. 
Individual Development and Identity:
Personal changes over time related to physical development and personal interests.
The unique features of one’s nuclear and extended families.
How learning and physical development affect behavior.
How family, groups, and community influence the individual’s daily life and personal choices.
Factors that contribute to one’s personal identity such as interests, capabilities, and perceptions.
Work independently and cooperatively to accomplish goals. 
Resiliency also can be found in the Science area. 
Science in Personal and Social Perspectives (Personal Health): 
Safety and security are basic needs of humans—being free from danger, risk, or injury; following rules; knowing whom to ask for help; and having the confidence to make healthy choices.
Individuals have some responsibility for their own health and personal care (dental hygiene, cleanliness, and exercise).
Nutrition is essential to good health—recommendations for good nutrition.
Different substances can damage the body and how it functions—substances such as alcohol, tobacco, over-the-counter medicines, and illegal drugs; any substance can be harmful if used inappropriately.

## Lesson Plan Outline 

- What will you teach?
- What do you need?
- Whom will you teach?
- What will you do?
- How does it fit into your overall planning?

**Notes:**
Use the lesson plan outline in your packet as you work with your group.
You may choose to work directly from the curriculum matrixes:
Use them to decide what you’ll teach—your objective. 
Determine which materials you’ll use.
Look at the products and decide which students will benefit most from the materials.
Decide how you will carry out the lesson plan.
Or, you may want to start with the products:
Choose a product first.
Select an activity you would like to use with specific students or groups.
Determine how you will carry out the lesson plan.
Finally, use the matrixes to determine the skills you are addressing.
Be creative. Adapt, adopt, and add on. You may want to use more than one item from the kit. Or, you may develop a unique game based on the music, the cards, or the ABC Coloring Book. Be prepared to share your group’s lesson plan ideas.

## Take Action

- Parents
- Faculty in your school
- Other schools
- Community leaders

**Notes:**
Use the action plan chart in your packet to consider ways to get the word out about Building Blocks in your community. Think about these questions:
What are some innovative ways to reach out to parents?These are free materials. How can you make sure that your students’ parents get them and use them? What about other groups of parents and students with whom you come in contact—religious groups, Boy or Girl Scouts, etc.?
How can you spur other teachers within your group to begin using Building Blocks? What’s the best way to approach other staff and faculty members?
How can you reach out to other Head Start groups? What local meetings can you attend? When and where can you present the information you’re getting today?
Whom can you contact to get community leaders involved in disseminating Building Blocks?
Whom do you know? Whom do they know? What would “sell” them on supporting this program in your community?

## Get the Word Out

- Who are the media in your community and how do you contact them?
- What is your message and how can you make it of local interest?
- How do you reach out through the media?

**Notes:**
Reaching out to the media is the most effective way to reach out to your community.
You need an up-to-date media list: 
Local newspapers, television, and radio reporters who cover family/youth, health, and community news.
Editors at associations, faith communities, and school. newsletters/newspapers.
Hosts and producers of local television and radio news/talk shows.
Public service and advertising directors at television and radio stations, newspapers, and local magazines.
You’re not trying to promote the broad concept of Building Blocks and substance abuse prevention. You want to show the relevance of Building Blocks to your community and how it can have an impact on creating risk-resistant children in your area.
What are the risk and protective factors in your community?
Find substance abuse statistics for young people in your community.
Who are the experts in your community on health and substance abuse?
Are there programs available to educate parents of young children? Are they working?
How do you reach out to the media? Consider:
A media tour of your school as teachers and parents put Building Blocks to work.
A press release about this workshop and how it will impact your curriculum this fall.
A roundtable discussion on your community’s profile of risk and protective factors and how Building Blocks can have an impact on the future.
An Eating Healthy Family Fun Fair where vendors and community groups prepare healthy foods and disseminate healthy recipes.
PSAs that make use of the catchy tunes and lyrics of the music CD. Remember, there’s no copyright on this Government-produced material. 

## Stay in Touch!

- Order materials through SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at **1-800-729-6686 **or** **online at** www.bblocks.samhsa.gov.**
- Join the listserv at **bblocks@shs.net** for e-mail updates.