In the 2016-2017 school year, Daviess County High School contacted the Daviess County Extension FCS and 4-H Agents requesting the Truth & Consequences program be shared at Daviess County High School with 9^th grade health classes. Truth & Consequences is a program devoted to educating youth on substance abuse by placing them in a simulated series of steps one would go through in in the actual situation him/herself. A committee of school, Extension, and community partners was formed and the program was held in April of 2017. This program was greatly supposed by all parties and we completed this program for a second time in March 2018 at Daviess County High School.

Though the 2016 KIP survey, state wide trends, shows a decrease in substance abuse from the year 2014 to 2016, we still see unfavorable trends in the areas of alcohol, cigarette, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, and prescription drug use ranging from 3.8% synthetic marijuana use to 48.2% alcohol use in Kentucky High School Seniors over the past 12 months (KIP 2016). Additionally, more students are reporting an increase in serious psychological distress, nervousness, hopelessness, depression, worthlessness, and others. In hopes to prevent self-treatment or self-harm related to these issues, we feel preventative measures should be taken to educate youth on such dangers.

This March, 72 freshmen health students and 33 volunteers from across the community participated in the program. The planning committee worked tirelessly over the course of 5 months to pull together the community partners, scenarios, meal arrangements, and incentive items to make this program possible. The scenarios were reviewed by the committee, local police, and Department of Juvenile Justice workers to specifically tailor the scenarios to suit situations we often see here in Daviess County related to substance abuse.

Both volunteers and students were asked to complete a post-evaluation of the program. Twenty eight volunteers indicated they feel substance abuse is an issue in our community and all of the volunteers indicated they would be interested in participating in future Truth & Consequences events. Of the 72 students completing the survey, 12 stated they had used alcohol one or more of the past 30 days. The majority of students indicated they feel the use of alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs is very wrong. After participation in the program, 63 students indicated they had a better understanding of the consequences of substance abuse and additionally that they would be able to access help in the community if needed.