The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services reports that 10% of adolescents self-report illicit drug use in the past month.  Substance use prevention programming is critical to the prevention, delayed onset, and/or early identification of substance use.  The Life Skills Training (LST) program, developed by Botvin and colleagues, is one of the most successful substance use prevention programs available for use. It teaches a variety of personal self-management skills and social skills in order to increase perceived self-efficacy and reduce the perceived incentives of substance use in youth and young adults.  

Allen County was identified as a county to invest in as a part of a PROSPER Step-by-Step grant secured by University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, to provide funding to institute Botvin’s Life Skills Training (LST) program in rural Kentucky counties.   As a part of this grant, Allen County received approximately $800 in facilitator training at no cost to the county, and $1,500 in program materials to implement the program at James E. Bazzell Middle School.  

Allen County Extension Agents Kelly Burgess and Anna Meador implemented the program over the course of 4 months.  Throughout the course of the 2021-2022 school year, approximately 208 students participated in the 15 lesson program.  On post-test surveys, 96% of Allen County students who participated in the LST program reported that they would use a relaxation strategy to cope with stress, as opposed to engaging in deviant or unhealthy behavior.  

When asked about what they have gained from the program, one student reported, “Now I know I can make smart choices and stand up for myself in a way that won’t make me feel bad or less confident.”