Pubdate: Wed, 16 Aug 2006
Source: Norman Transcript (OK)
Copyright: 2006 The Norman Transcript
Contact:  http://www.normantranscript.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/552
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

MOORE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL GIVES STUDENTS A SECOND  CHANCE

This will be a busy week for 20,000 children going back  to school in 
Moore. One class will fill a little more  slowly -- but surely.

The Moore Alternative School and Treatment (MAST)  program is for 
Moore teenagers experiencing problems  with drug and alcohol abuse. 
MAST provides education  and counseling services to get kids back on 
the right  track in school and in life.

The program is an outgrowth of Moore Youth -- Family  Services, Inc. 
and the Moore Alcohol -- Drug Center,  Inc., both operating from a 
building on Northwest 5th  Street.

"We start out pretty slow, but our classes soon pick up  when kids 
turn up in drug busts, under the influence in  school or get 
suspended for dealing," says Lisa  Williams. The program's two 
classrooms can accommodate  16 students, all closely watched, 
counseled and tutored for a minimum of nine weeks.

Alcohol and drug problems are prevalent in the schools  says 
Williams, clinical director of the nonprofit  juvenile treatment 
program. Youth suspended from school  or at risk of being suspended 
are prime candidates for  the MAST program. The only "prerequisite": 
desire to change. Schoolkids ages 13 to 17 must have a 
substance  abuse problem and be willing to work on it.

"There are other alternative schools but ours has the  only treatment 
program," Williams said. "Our emphasis  is on cognitive therapy and 
behavior modification.  Academics comes second."

MAST was established in Moore in 1975, well before  other state 
funded alternative education programs were  initiated in the '90s, 
Williams said. The MAST program  is funded by the Oklahoma Department 
of Mental Health  and Substance Abuse, the Office of Juvenile Affairs 
and  the United Way. In recent years, MAST resources have  been 
stretched thin by state budget cuts.

Many Moore public school students are unaware of the  MAST program, 
Williams said. She said she coordinates  with school principals and 
counselors to inform parents  and students of the service.

Williams said drug abuse in the schools has widened in  scope to 
include both illicit drugs and prescription  medicine. "What I've 
seen the most is problems with  methamphetamine, Valium and pain 
drugs like Oxycontin  and Lortabs. Sometimes it's real easy to get 
drugs over the Internet...but alcohol is still the most abused  substance."

Getting into the MAST program begins and ends with a  phone call. "A 
parent or kid can call and say they're  interested," Williams said. 
Young candidates answer a  few questions over the phone and then 
undergo an  hour-long face-to-face assessment involving family 
background, substance abuse problems and medical and  educational history.

"Every kid admitted to the program signs a contract"  involving 
respect for others, behavior standards in  class and abstinence from 
drugs and alcohol, Williams  said. "Then we set up individual and family goals.

"A kid is given a day to think about it, then calls  with a decision."

What follows is a minimum of nine weeks of classroom  instruction, 
individual and group counseling,  conferences with parents and, less 
frequently, family  counseling.

"Our biggest problem is getting the family engaged in  the 
treatment," Williams said.

"Most of the time, our students have a family history  of substance 
abuse. These are very bright kids, for the  most part. A majority of 
them have had a lot of  hardships. We're talking about kids who have 
had a  whole lot stacked against them, especially it 
they're  involved in the court system."

Typically, students complete an average of two  semesters with MAST, 
learning to stay focused on  schoolwork. They are taught by a 
certified teacher  aided by three other MAST staff. "If they finish 
one  assignment, they go on to the next," Williams said.  "They're 
watched constantly and supervised closely."  The scrutiny includes 
random urinalysis for drugs.

Williams said 94 percent of MAST students successfully  complete the 
program and 96 percent remain drug-free.  There have been slip-ups in 
the program's long history,  but only two of them have involved 
drugs, she said.

"Years ago, a policeman with a drug dog came in to do 
a  demonstration for the class," Williams said. "The dog  made a drug 
hit on one young man [in the class]." The  officer was outside his 
jurisdiction, so Moore police  were called."

"The kid waited in our office for the police to come.  He sat there 
crying. The officer and the Moore police  were very supportive. They 
understood the kid was not a  criminal. He went into a residential 
treatment  program."

Later, Williams said, "the young man came back to visit  us. He had 
finished school and started working. To me,  he was a real success."

Among other success stories, a 16-year-old girl who had  failed the 
ninth grade three times and "had no family  support" received her GED 
through MAST went on to  manage a grocery store and receive a college 
degree in  criminal justice, Williams said.

And a boy involved in gangs and drugs and on probation  became the 
only one in his family to finish school.  "His mother had been 
murdered and his dad and brothers  were in prison. For the past six 
years he's been a  foreman for a roofing company."

Williams admits some students find it impossible to  continue with the program.

"These kids are used to failing and being kicked out,"  she said. "We 
open the door for them and help them find  another place. We're 
tough, but fair. We want them to  succeed."

Others choose to complete their entire high school  education in 
MAST, Williams said. "Some kids get their  GEDs. If you're 17 and in 
the ninth grade, it's  unrealistic to think of graduating from high 
school."  Williams has been with the MAST program for 26 years,  but 
does not hold the seniority record. Walt Hedrick,  the director, has 
been with the program since its  beginnings over 30 years ago. When 
she began with the  program, Williams said, "We had a place on First 
Street. It looked like a barn. It was a barn." The  agencies moved to 
the present location in 1990.  Williams has a master's degree from 
the University of  Oklahoma School of Social Work and is a licensed 
marriage and family therapist. She is working toward  state licensure 
as an alcohol and drug counselor, a new  state certification. "To get 
a state license requires a  minimum of eight years," she said.

The MAST center has a staff of about 25, with several  serving the 
program for 20 years or more. Most of the  staff are either licensed 
or under state supervision  for licensure in social work, marriage 
and family  therapy and alcohol and drug counseling. There also 
are  five college interns from OU, OSU and Southern  Methodist 
University. MAST has been struggling through  a series of budget cuts 
and funding freezes, Williams  said. "The department of mental health 
and substance  abuse cut $10,000 from our budget this year. Despite 
rising costs, we've had no increase from the Office of  Juvenile 
Affairs for 10 years. For the past three  years, we've had a freeze 
on staff cost of living  raises...Because of the cuts, we have no 
formal follow-up after the kids leave the program. "Mental  health is 
not highly valued in this state."

Still, the MAST program continues to equip youth with  the skills to 
handle life. "These kids are survivors,"  Williams said. They have to 
be ready to make changes.  That takes courage and guts.

"If they stay alive, out of the prison system and are  productive, to 
me that's success."
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