I remember in the early part of my career we decided that Lakeside’s programs should be focused more at preventing some of the more significant problems in our youth community. I was told by a number of professionals that we would never be able to achieve the goal of prevention. It was an expense and process that many felt could not be possible.
A few decades later, Lakeside’s schools and counseling programs provide services to over 7,500 students per year largely at a level of prevention. That means we are able to address certain mental health, drug and alcohol, behavioral, relational and educational issues before they become so severe that it takes a more serious intervention. In this day of funding cuts to education and mental health, I am very concerned that prevention programs may be victim to those cuts, which will have significant consequences to our youth.
Prevention programs are designed to actively build healthier, more resilient young people and communities. Here are some of the outcomes of prevention:
- They stop problems earlier and sometimes before they start
- They build life skills that last
- They build mental health and resilience
- They reduce risky behavior
- They improve academic outcomes
- They promote equity and opportunity
- They strengthen families
- They support healthy identity development
Beyond these outcomes to students, prevention is cost-effective. Every dollar invested in prevention can save multiple dollars later in costs like healthcare, child welfare, criminal justice and lost productivity. Prevention is not just compassionate – it is fiscally smart.
In addition, prevention programs create long-term societal benefits. Healthy youth become healthy adults that have lower rates of incarceration, stronger workforces, better parenting and more connected communities. Prevention programs don’t simply avoid problems; rather, they build healthy lives with a future that is productive and purposeful.
Short-term cuts of effective prevention programs will cost our society more expense and will create greater risks of destructive behavior in the long run. Prevention programs can mitigate the risk of greater destructive behavior with the right approach in helping our youth prevent the escalation of some of their high-risk behaviors now. Our staff at Lakeside watch that transformation in all of our programs each and every day. I firmly believe prevention protects our kids and families from a potential lifetime of negative consequences and offers hope for a successful future. Decreasing funding for prevention programs will hurt our kids, families, schools and communities for years to come. I hope we will not take that risk!
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
