Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 14, 1995                   TAG: 9510160006
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LESLIE HAGER SMITH SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

RADFORD YOUTH-ADULT PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO CURB PROBLEMS OF TEENS

The year-old partnership is one of five in the New River Valley that aims to coordinate community efforts against violence, substance abuse, pregnancy and other health problems that affect teen-agers.

Modeled after successful "peer programs" in four New England towns, they make teen-agers full partners in addressing community issues.

Those honored were:

Joy Tucker, prevention specialist with the New River Valley Community Services Board.

Barabara Reasor and Alice Turner, parent representatives.

Teachers Priscilla Moore of Belle Heth, Delores Thornton of McHarg, Sue Hohenshil of Dalton Intermediate, and Debbie Tickle of Radford High schools.

Peer programs like the Radford partnership have proven in the past 10 years to be dramatically more successful than other types of prevention efforts, according to program officials.

"We often hear of success stories where kids who grew up in the worst kinds of neighborhoods with the worst kinds of environments go on to succeed," Tucker says.

The partnership's immediate plans include a Youth Input Dialogue and parent information seminars during monthly Open Gym nights at the Radford Recreation Department.

Youth Input Dialogues are forums designed to query intermediate and high school students on what they see as problems in Radford and to generate ideas for solutions, Tucker says.

"What we want is sustained involvement from youth," she says. "We want the youth to tell us what they need ... to know that someone is listening to them."

Because of her early involvement, Reasor is seen as the catalyst for partnership activity in the New River Valley.

She is a school psychologist with the Montgomery County School system, and her daughter graduated from Radford schools. "I came into prevention work from a clinical substance abuse setting ... I found I didn't want to wait until the kids were already addicted - I wanted to focus on prevention." So, Reasor left that position and joined the school system, where she soon discovered that the goals of CEPS parallel her own.

Tucker, like Reasor, comes to prevention with all the devotion of a convert.

"What prevention work does is to promote a healthy lifestyle - it's a proactive process to help people make healthy choices, " she says. "Although a lot of our work is centered on children and youth, it's not just for them. It's for adults, too."

Turner echoes this message. She became active in the Youth-Adult Partnership through her participation in the Citizens for a Radford Youth & Family Center, a group committed to buying or building a youth center for the city. Until that's accomplished, the group is sponsoring Open Gym nights for teens at the Radford Recreation Department. Turner welcomes the partnership's plans for parenting seminars on those evenings.

"Parents need to be involved in their young people's lives. This is a way to get them started in that direction."

The first seminar, "Strengthening the Family," will be held Oct. 21.

The Radford Youth-Adult Partnership is one of five in the New River Valley. Partnerships are in various stages of development in Floyd, Giles, Montgomery and Pulaski counties.

The Radford Youth-Adult Partnership will meet Tuesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Radford Parks and Recreation Department.