In This Issue

Fall/Winter 2005
Volume 1 • Issue 2

Professors Receive
Allan Meyers Award

Director’s Corner

UM Students Receive
National Award

Center Updates Acronym

Prevention Center
of Excellence

$2.9M Reading Program Grant

Director Named
AUCD President

New Leadership for CAC

Search Tool Facilitates
Access to MEC Training

Grant to Increase Access
to Volunteer Opportunities

Intervention Methods
Subject of Conference

Screening Instrument
Under Development

Co-Instructional Model
Developed by CCIDS

Center Staff Star in
New Video

Guest Column:
CAC Member Tours
South Africa

Brain Research Informs
Best Practice

Partnership for EC
Health Formed

Presentations & Publications

CenterPoint Home

Grant Funds Prevention Center of Excellence

In late spring 2005, the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) was awarded $650,000 from the Maine Office of Substance Abuse to establish the Prevention Center of Excellence. Although initially funded for two years, the work-plan, goals, and objectives for the Prevention Center of Excellence have been developed with a five-year vision of operation. To further CCIDS’ commitment to full inclusion and universal access to health information and resources for all citizens of Maine, including those with disabilities, the Prevention Center will begin its activities by focusing primarily on substance abuse prevention.

During year one, the Prevention Center of Excellence will use participatory research methods to identify the comparative prevalence, incidence, and nature of substance abuse in diverse geographic areas, examine the current preventive resources that exist within communities, identify unmet prevention needs, and collaboratively identify preventive and capacity building interventions in areas identified as most significantly underserved.

Based on the needs assessment findings, during years two through five, the Prevention Center of Excellence will identify underserved communities, work with those communities, epidemiologists, and agency partners to implement and evaluate universally accessible prevention strategies and to build community preventive capacity. Concurrent with this focused activity, the Prevention Center of Excellence will seek additional fiscal resources to support a broader and more expansive approach to prevention. Engaging undergraduate and graduate students from relevant disciplines in project activities will provide educational opportunities in critical aspects of prevention inquiry, universally accessible program development, intervention implementation, and evaluation.

The Prevention Center of Excellence is currently staffed by Stephen Gilson, principal investigator; Elizabeth DePoy, co-principal investigator; Marguerite (Peg) Woitko, undergraduate Social Work intern 2005/2006; Christina Seeber, graduate research assistant; Clare Desrosiers, graduate Social Work intern 2005/2006; and Stacy Brady Doore, research associate. Shihfen Tu, assistant professor will participate in the Prevention Center of Excellence through December 2005. Craig Mason, associate professor participated in the Prevention Center of Excellence through November 2005.
Consistent with the principles of CCIDS, the dissemination of reports and related information will be made available in multiple formats and styles to assure full universal access.

— Liz DePoy