Vanguard tackles drugs with D.C. aid
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Christine Carrillo
After receiving a federal contract worth nearly $100,000 from the federal government, the university put the money to use by holding
the first in a series of abuse conferences on Wednesday.
The contract is the first partnership the federal government’s
Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration has made with a
private Christian university to assess the effectiveness of Teen
Challenge, a worldwide organization that takes a faith-based approach
to rehabilitating drug users and others struggling with
life-controlling problems.
“Our relationship is seamless because we share the same values and
see that the problems aren’t just physical,” said Maximo Rossi, the
provost and vice president of academic affairs for the university.
“We need to address the physical, but also need to approach things
from a spiritual side. In that sense, [the partnership with Teen
Challenge] is a perfect fit.”
The conference, coordinated by members of Vanguard University’s
Institute for Leadership Studies, incorporated the efforts of school
officials and USC officials from the Institute for Prevention
Research at the Keck School of Medicine and the Center for Civic
Religion and Culture.
“We’ve partnered with major research groups for nearly four
years,” said Marty Harris, the associate provost for Vanguard and the
project director for the contract that they’ve been working toward
for more than three years. “Vanguard is at the vanguard in this area
of research and [the university is working] at finding cutting-edge
strategies for faith-based programs.”
The conference touched on how to quantify data involving the
effects of how a faith-based approach aids recovery, the roles of
family, faith and behavior in substance abuse and how to implement
technology and the imaging of the brain when dealing with these
issues.
“I think this is terrific and I was really impressed,” said Costa
Mesa Councilman Chris Steel, who attended the conference. “Their
approach is faith-based and focuses on moral principles, which is
very important.
I think we’re very fortunate to have Vanguard here,” Steel said.
“With everything they’ve done for the community and their type of
approach, I think it says a lot for Vanguard and Costa Mesa.”
The university hopes that the conference will serve as a step
toward formulizing research for faith-based programs such as Teen
Challenge that will aid individuals struggling with life-controlling
problems.
“We welcome further study and we think it will even help to
replicate our program and allow us to share with others exactly what
happens with the process,” said Dennis Griffith, executive director
for Teen Challenge of Southern California. “This will bring some real
validity to the success of Teen Challenge. It will be great for us to
know which parts of our program work best and what practices are most
effective.”
If Vanguard and the other institutions continue to generate ideas,
the government will continue to provide the university with funds,
Rossi said.
“We’ve had so much conversation and so much information come from
these people, and one thing has really been clear -- we need to bring
education to those affected by drug abuse,” he said. “We need to
treat both the physical and the spiritual, and this grant is the
beginning.”
* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)
574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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