Lead & Seed Environmental Drug Prevention Program

The Lead and Seed Environmental Drug Prevention Program is delivered to middle and high school age youth, as well as elementary school age youth as the “Wee Lead and Seed” Program.

The goal of Lead and Seed is to prevent and reduce alcohol, tobacco and other drug use among teens.

Youth and adults who support the youth-empowered efforts in the Lead and Seed process, pave the way for alcohol and drug free youth. Lead and Seed focuses on healthy choices and life styles.  Lead and Seed youth and adults together, create long term, meaningful change in their environment in compliance with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and its “preparing prevention communities” efforts. Lead and Seed is designed to adhere to all Federal guidelines and initiatives, such as those outlined by SAMHSA, (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration.)

The Lead and Seed program is a nationally recognized, state-approved, effective program that is youth-empowered and adult supported.  Adult involvement consists of all sectors of society such as teachers, guidance counselors, law enforcement, parents, faith community, media, health professionals, businesses, etc.  The youth leaders involved in Lead and Seed, are generally from a school, although faith communities and civic organizations can implement Lead and Seed if there is a recurring group of interested youth that can meet regularly.

Lead and Seed Program is generally delivered in a school-to-community outreach setting, with a minimum of 12 instructional hours, (there are additional option Focus Features that can also be included, such as Marijuana, Bullying Prevention, Illicit Drug Use and Tobacco Use), followed by community action to fix the alcohol, tobacco or drug problem(s) of that community. Lead and Seed can be part of a school curriculum, or an activity period  in the school schedule, or it can work in conjunction with school infrastructure already  in place, such as Student Council, the PTA, etc.

Phase I, (LEAD), is the “Instructional Phase” that deals with the program approach, “individual change,” in an effort to fix and change individual adolescent knowledge, attitude and skills. It is during this instructional phase that youth also explore the specific causes of problems (such as underage drinking),  in their community, what strategies might work where they live, work, play and pray and how they are going to measure behavioral change for the strategy in the action plan that create.

Phase II, (SEED), is the flexible period of time following  program instruction- the Community Action phase-whereby the trained youth participants implement the action plans and strategies they developed during Phase I of Lead and Seed.  This Lead and Seed configuration of “training first” and “then implementing” plans, is helpful because in Phase I youth are provided with the “tools” they need to localize and take charge of their own efforts and outcomes. This is the platform for “population-level” change that would begin to occur in Phase II. The adult role is to support and assist the youth in attaining their goals.
The objectives of Lead and Seed are to:

• Build human, financial and technical capacities
• Identify successful leadership characteristics and styles
• Create and implement a planning process that includes implementation steps as well as process and outcome measurement
• Increase knowledge, skills and attitude change at the “individual level” related to underage alcohol consumption and consequence facts, teen tobacco use and illicit drug use, decision making and problem solving processes
• Initiate best practice strategies that will contribute to behavioral change at the “population level,” producing long term, meaningful environmental change in communities to prevent and reduce underage drinking, teen tobacco use and illicit drug use

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is Lead & Seed?  Lead & Seed is both an “individual” and “environmental” approach to the prevention and reduction of substance abuse, focusing on the betterment and well being of society as a whole and the mental, emotional, social and physical wellness of youth. 

What skills are taught in the curriculum? The curriculum is only instructed by drug prevention experts who must be certified to teach Lead and Seed. Lead and Seed is built on the SAMHSA’s  5-Step Strategic Prevention Framework process: Assess, Build Capacity, Plan, Implement and Evaluate. Lead and Seed teaches the role of compelling data, data-driven action, how to build technical, financial and human capacities, logic model and action planning, implementation and tracking, evaluation, (Process, Outcome, Impact and Formative Evaluation), the use of social marketing with print, broadcast and electronic media,  persuasion tactics and drug refusal skills, problem solving, healthy choices and decision making, leadership processes and styles, civic engagement, collaboration and working with community partners, how to change policy, practices and procedures and the use of the Center for Substance Abuse Best Practice strategies.

What are the Lead & Seed Projects and Activities?  More than 300 mobilizing activities are provided as examples through the curriculum training, however the community’s own Logic Model and Action Plans developed by the youth become the blueprint to move forward on actions they select to initiate in their own school and community.

How are youth involved?  Youth leaders who are recruited for Lead and Seed by the school or the PTA, have a passion for change, have the time to dedicate to the Seeding effort, (expansion and mobilization) and have a desire to create community wide change in positive and healthy lifestyle behaviors and mental wellness. Youth provide the grassroots involvement for school-to-community environmental improvements to stop access to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Where has Lead & Seed has been replicated?  The Lead & Seed program has been replicated in rural, urban and suburban locations across the nation with consistent results in the reduction of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

How is Lead & Seed evaluated? Students and adults enrolled in the curriculum, are given Pre and Post Knowledge Assessment, SAMHSA’s “National Outcome Measures”, Monitoring the Future’s “Attitude Toward Drug Use,” an Adult Environmental Survey, Youth Leadership Survey, Youth Efficacy Survey and Youth Environment Survey.  Community changes are classified as physical, legal, socio-cultural and economic changes in local policies, practices and procedures with a specific tracking system in place for documenting environmental changes. 

What successes have been associated with Lead & Seed?  Lead & Seed has been included in the SAMHSA Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies’ “National Service to Science Academy,” received the highest score in the competitive grant process to receive the 2009 SAMHSA Building Evaluation award, has been featured repeatedly in national media and events, such as the SAMHSA Town Hall Meeting trainings, (see www.stopalcoholabuse.gov),  and its curriculum is also instructed at the National Guard Northeast Counterdrug Training Center for adults.  Adults taking the Lead and Seed course at NCTC can also receive college credit for the course. The Lead & Seed program is also used by the Federal Drug-free Community grantees, SPF-SIG Communities and the Department of Education Grants to Reduce Alcohol Abuse grantees.

What were the results of the 18 month research and evaluation of  the Lead &Seed Program by the Northeast Center for Application of Prevention Technologies and Dr. Pamela Susan Imm, Chief Investigator from 2009-2011?