LifeSkills Training (LST) Substance Abuse Prevention Grants

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Contact Information

Dixie Grunenfelder

Executive Director, Student Engagement & Support

The Botvin LifeSkills program teaches youth how to cope with and manage stress and anxiety, build positive relationship and communication skills, and develop refusal skills to prevent and reduce substance use and abuse. Botvin has just released a new electronic version of Level 1 Middle School Program. Schools can use funds from the LifeSkills Grant to purchase it.

LifeSkills Grant Opportunities

The following Botvin LifeSkills Grants are offered through OSPI. Applications for the 2022-2023 academic school year are open.

  1. LifeSkills Training Substance Abuse Prevention Grant (Form Package 761) This grant will cover the cost of the teacher and student LifeSkills Training (LST) Middle School Program manuals (which are to be purchased directly from Botvin LifeSkills). As well as a stipend for data collection, cost of mandatory facilitator training (everyone who plans on teaching the curriculum, must be trained before they can teach it.) The grant will also cover a data stipend.
  2. Facilitator Training Grant (Form Package 961) allows educators/counselors to participate in the “Middle School Online Training” offered directly by Botvin LifeSkills. Before anyone teaches the Botvin LifeSkills Training Middle School curriculum they need to be trained in it. This grant will also cover the cost of the Teacher’s Manual and Student Guide needed for the training.
  3. Readiness to Implement LifeSkills Grant (Form Package 962) allows schools, districts, and/or ESDs to analyze local Healthy Youth Survey data, identify substance use prevention and intervention needs, and explore the Botvin LifeSkills Curriculum to see if it is a good fit for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Who can apply for the grant?

Grants are open to all public schools, school districts, and community organizations that serve middle school-age youth.

How do I apply for the LifeSkills Grant?

Schools and ESDs can apply for the LifeSkills Grants via iGrants, they are Form Package 761, Form Package 961 and Form Package 962.

What will the grant cover?

Each grant covers different things:

LifeSkills Substance Abuse Prevention Grant:

The grant will cover the cost of teacher and student material, mandatory training, as well as a data collection stipend.

Readiness to Implement LifeSkills Grant:

Allows schools, districts, and/or ESDs to analyze local Healthy Youth Survey data, identify substance use prevention and intervention needs, and explore the Botvin Lifeskills Curriculum to see if it is a good fit.

Facilitator Training Grant:

Allows educators/counselors to participate in the "Middle School Online Training" offered directly by Botvin LifeSkills. Before anyone teaches the Botvin LifeSkills Training Middle School curriculum they need to be trained in it. This grant will also cover the cost of the Teacher's Manual and Student Guide needed for the training.

Does my school need to do anything besides teach the curriculum?

Yes, for the Lifeskills Substance Abuse Prevention Grant grantees agree to implement the LifeSkills Curriculum in their schools with fidelity (teaching lessons in order and teaching at least one lesson each week for consecutive weeks until all units in the level are taught. More than one lesson may be taught per week if desired, up to 5 lessons can be taught each year).

Grantees also agree to collect and submit the following data to OSPI in a secure manner, including but not limited to:

  • Reporting student information including first and last name, date of birth, city, state, zip code, age, and race/ethnicity to OSPI
  • Attendance in LifeSkills classroom sessions
  • Pre and post-survey from each student
How long is the Botvin LifeSkills Middle School curriculum?

The LifeSkills Middle School program is designed to be taught in sequence over three years to youth in grades 6-8.

  • Year 1: Students are taught Level 1 of the program, which has 15 lessons.
  • Year 2: Level 2 is taught, which has 10 lessons.
  • Year 3: Level 3 is taught, which has 5 lessons.
  • Each lesson takes 45 to 55 minutes to teach.
Is this curriculum aligned with the Washington State Health and Physical Education Standards?

An alignment map has been created to show what WA Health and PE standards are met in this curriculum.

Substance Abuse Resources