COPES Gains National Recognition for the Creating Lasting Family Connections Marriage Enhancement Program
Louisville, KY (PRWEB) August 08, 2013 -- A program developed by the Louisville-based Council on Prevention and Education: Substances, Inc. (COPES) is now listed on the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s NREPP represents a key part of the federal government’s efforts to help states and communities make informed decisions about selecting and using evidence-based interventions for the prevention and/or treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.
Ted N. Strader, Executive Director of COPES, has developed a curriculum series to address substance abuse and mental health issues entitled, Creating Lasting Family Connections® (CLFC). The newest program in the CLFC series is the CLFC Marriage Enhancement Program®. This new CLFC component has demonstrated powerful results for prison reentry and substance abuse recovering couples in reducing dependence on government services by strengthening families. The healthier behaviors and improved communication between the individuals have led to greater commitment and greater satisfaction in the relationships of participating couples. Additionally, based on other COPES research, the demonstrated outcomes are also very likely to reduce prison recidivism and ultimately create savings in societal costs in keeping two-parent families intact and healthy.
The CLFC Marriage Enhancement Program® has also been recognized for its ability to save taxpayers money. The federal government also commissioned a private firm, St. Wall Street, to assess the CLFC Marriage Enhancement Program’s® return on investment values. Their report suggests that this program can reduce governmental and societal costs by approximately $2 million per year when implemented with 150 couples in a local community using materials and training developed by COPES.
The CLFC Marriage Enhancement Program® received a perfect score of 4.0 on NREPP’s rating for the availability of implementation and training materials to support any community’s local adoption of this program in routine service settings.
The CLFC Marriage Enhancement Program® is the second COPES program to be listed on NREPP. The Original CLFC substance abuse prevention program was listed in 2007. Further, a third program on Fatherhood also developed by Strader of COPES is currently still under review by NREPP and is expected to be added to this national registry in the near future.
ABOUT COPES, Inc.:
COPES, Inc. began as a tentative and pioneering program in Louisville in the 1980’s, but has evolved into a nationally recognized and innovative substance abuse prevention and family strengthening non-profit organization. COPES was incorporated in 1981 and, by 1985, was receiving a steady flow of requests to develop programs for special populations. COPES programs are now in use in all 50 states and several other countries. Find out more about COPES from our website.
ABOUT TED N. STRADER:
Strader has served as Executive Director of COPES, Inc. since the agency was incorporated. He has extensive professional training in chemical dependency treatment, prevention and family relations. Strader also is the lead author/program developer for the entire CLFC® curriculum series, which is used in all 50 states and several other countries and has been listed on NREPP since its inception in 2007. His programs have also received the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention/National Prevention Network’s Exemplary Program Award four times (1995, 1999, 2000 and 2010.) Find out more about Mr. Strader from our website.
The CLFC Marriage Enhancement Program’s® listing on NREPP can be found at http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/ViewIntervention.aspx?id=322, and a recent press bulletin regarding the new listing from SAMHSA at http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1307220126.aspx
Executive Director (Ted N. Strader) Social Media Links
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ted-n-strader/70/856/22a
https://www.facebook.com/tnstrader
Ted Strader, COPES, Inc., http://www.copes.org, 502-583-6820, [email protected]
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