DARE to be You
DARE to be You (DTBY) is a multilevel school, parent, and community program aimed at children ages 2 to 5 and their families. DTBY was designed to reduce drug and alcohol use; increase parenting efficacy; enhance children’s self-esteem and their communication and problem-solving skills; provide training for child-care personnel and other significant caregivers; and involve community teens as peer educators and support systems for youth. The program focuses on the individual child, the family environment, the school environment, and the community and can be run through a variety of community agencies or organizations, including preschools, Head Start facilities, resource centers, and community action groups. DTBY was developed at the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.
The target audience for DTBY’s family/preschool program is children ages 2 to 5 and their families. DTBY has also created the Bridges program, which focuses on parents, teachers, and children in grades K–2, and the CARE to Wait program, which focuses on middle school youth (ages 12–14) and their parents.
DTBY’s family/preschool program was originally tested and proven effective in four sites in Colorado with participants from varied ethnic backgrounds and income levels. Participants came from both urban and rural backgrounds, including a low-income Native American community; a low-income and primarily Hispanic rural community; a primarily white semirural community; and an urban community. The family/preschool program’s parent training guide and preschool activity guide are available in both English and Spanish. DTBY’s family/preschool program has now been successfully implemented with every major cultural group in the United States and is active in 35 states.
The family/preschool program includes three main components: (1) family program; (2) preschool teacher and day-care provider workshops; and (3) community training. The family program consists of the following:
- Parent curriculum: series of 10–12 weekly family classes that help parents to improve their sense of self-esteem and efficacy; learn stress management techniques; increase empathy; increase positive role modeling; learn developmental norms for children; and establish a peer support group. Each session lasts approximately 2.25 hours, including a meal and a 15-minute parent-child activity.
- Children’s program: series of 10–12 workshops that correspond to the parent curriculum, ideally held simultaneously with the parent workshops. This program is designed for children ages 2.5–3 and ages 4–5. The siblings of the focus child are also encouraged to participate. DTBY recommends recruiting and training teens to be the preschool teachers in this program, providing a multilevel impact.
- Parent-child activities: Each session of the parent curriculum includes a 15-minute parent-child activity, allowing the parents to interact with their child in a nurturing environment. Parents and children have the opportunity to practice the skills they learned during that session.
After completing the parent curriculum and accompanying children’s program, families may attend reinforcing workshops (four two-hour sessions each year) designed to support earlier learning. The DTBY model recommends providing parents with an incentive for completing the reinforcing workshops. Families can also continue to receive support through After-DARE, a monthly or quarterly voluntary support group.
Support for implementation includes a required 20-hour training from the developer. Training is offered in a variety of contexts, including on-site training, regional training, and training at the DARE to be You offices in Cortez, Colorado.
Janet Miller-Heyl, Program Director
215 North Linden Street
Cortez, CO 81321
Phone: (970) 565-3606
Fax: (970) 565-4641
E-mail: jan.miller-heyl@colostate.edu
Web site: http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/DTBY/
The DTBY family/preschool implementation training costs $5,400 plus the cost of travel and per diem for one trainer. This cost includes a set of five manuals (parent training guide, preschool activity guide, sibling activity manuals, and peer training manual) and one activity book. The cost of materials for this program range from $10 to $225. These materials can be purchased from DTBY’s Web site.
DTBY’s family/preschool program was originally evaluated with successive cohorts of families over five years in four sites in Colorado. Standard psychological assessments were administered to all participating families before and after treatment, and surveys were completed at baseline and 12, 24, and 36 months. The experimental group also completed posttest surveys immediately after the program’s end. The results of this evaluation were as follows:
- Parents increased their self-efficacy, sense of positive relationships with their children, and satisfaction in the parenting role.
- Parents decreased their external locus of control, sense of being stressed, child-blaming attributions, and use of harsh punishments.
- Parents increased their nurturing and inductive family management styles and ability to set limits and provide autonomy.
- Parents increased their satisfaction with available social support networks.
- Children increased their developmental level as compared to their control group peers.
An evaluation handbook, which includes recommended survey instruments and coding instructions, is available from the developers.
- Strengthening America’s Families: Model Family Program for Substance Abuse and
- Delinquency Prevention
- National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors: Exemplary Prevention Program (1988 and 1989)
- Colorado Governor’s Award for Excellence in Substance Abuse Prevention
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Model Program
- Listed on SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
DARE to be You. (2000). DARE to be You Replication Manual for the DARE to be You Program for Families of Preschool Youth, Caregivers and Community. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Ft. Collins, CO.
DARE to be You. (1998). DARE to be You Parent Training Guide Insert Packet. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Ft. Collins, CO.
DARE to be You. (1992). DARE to be You Preschool Activity Guide. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Ft. Collins, CO.
DARE to be You. (1991). DARE to be You Parent Training Guide. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Ft. Collins, CO.
DARE to be You. (1998). DARE to be You K–12 Life Skills and Substance Abuse Prevention Curriculum (5 volume set). Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Ft. Collins, CO.
DARE to be You. (1985). DARE to be You Leaders' Manual, 2nd Ed. Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, Ft. Collins, CO.
Fritz, J., MacPhee, D., & Miller-Heyl, J. (1999, April). Parent social cognitions and children's interpersonal problem solving. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM.
Fritz, J. J., Miller-Heyl, J., Kreutzer, J. C., & MacPhee, D. (1995). Fostering personal teaching efficacy through staff development and classroom activities. Journal of Educational Research, 88, 200–208.
MacPhee, D., Fritz, J., & Miller-Heyl, J. (1996). Ethnic variations in personal social networks and parenting. Child Development, 67, 3278–3295.
Miller-Heyl, J., MacPhee, D., & Fritz, J. (2000). DARE to be You: A Systems Approach to the Early Prevention of Problem Behaviors. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Miller-Heyl, J., MacPhee, D., & Fritz, J. (1998). DARE to be You: A family-support, early prevention program. Journal of Primary Prevention, 18, 257–285.
