CASA-Trinity Prevention Education offerings are available for schools and parents in Cattaraugus, Chemung, Livingston and Tioga, NY Counties!

Contact Us:

RACHEL PENA
Chief Operating Officer- Prevention, Strategy and Promotion
Email:  rpena@casa-trinity.org 
Phone: (585) 748-5146

CHELSEA MENIO
Senior Director of Harm Reduction and Prevention Services
Email: cmenio@casa-trinity.org 
Phone: (607) 663-0121

ANDREA RICHTER
Program Director – Livingston Prevention Services
Email: arichter@casa-trinity.org
Phone: (585) 443-5189

ERICA SEBASTIAN
Program Director – Cattaraugus Prevention Services
Email: esebastian@casa-trinity.org
Phone: (716) 373-4303

TIOGA COUNTY PREVENTION
LAURA SMITH
Assistant Supervisor Community Prevention and Training, MS, CPP
Email: lsmith@casa-trinity.org

ERIN DOYLE
Program Director – Chemung Prevention Services
Email: edoyle@casa-trinity.org 
Phone: (607) 846-3947

LAURA SMITH
Assistant Supervisor – Community Prevention and Training
Email: lsmith@casa-trinity.org 

JESSICA FIERRO
Assistant Supervisor – School Based Prevention
Email: jfierro@casa-trinity.org 

Other Resources:

CASA-Trinity Prevention Education offerings are available for parents and schools within Cattaraugus, Chemung, Livingston and Tioga, NY Counties.

Below is a list of programming that we offer across the counties mentioned above. Although we offer all these programs, each county has specific offerings.  Simply click on a program to expand the details and learn more.

To see what prevention education offerings are available in your area, please see the list of buttons to the left of this page. Have fun exploring the programs below and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have. Thank you!

Programming for K-12th Grades:

Second Step

Second Step® programs are all about helping students build social-emotional skills, such as nurturing positive relationships, managing emotions, and setting goals. Not only can this help them thrive in school, but also in life.

Second Step® social-emotional learning (SEL) programs empower all ages to build skills for success.

In addition, they offer professional development programs for educators that brings the benefits of SEL to your staff and school culture!

With programs for K-12 grade levels, students can learn life empowering skills to carry with them, even after graduation.

Learn more and enjoy some free printables by visiting their website!

SPORT

Substance use Prevention Optimizing Robust Teens (SPORT).

A Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) program that is an easy and flexible to use. This single-session substance use prevention program is designed to increase fitness, health and performance-enhancing behaviors like physical activity, sports participation, healthy eating, getting adequate sleep, and practicing stress control for youth.

To learn more about their programs, visit their website

Too Good Programs

Too Good develops and reinforces steps and planning for kids and youth to set reachable goals, make responsible decisions, identify, and manage emotions, and learn effective communication skills in addition to peer-pressure refusal, pro-social peer bonding, and peaceful conflict resolution skills.

This is a universal K-12 prevention education program designed to help lower risk factors and enhance protective factors related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) use. 

To learn more about this program, visit their website!

Stanford You & Me Together Vape Free

Part of the Stanford Tobacco Prevention Toolkit, this 6-lesson theory-based and evidence-informed program was created by the Stanford REACH Lab, Youth Action Board, educators, healthcare providers and scientists across the United States.

With formats for elementary, middle and high school, each lesson is about 50 minutes long. Each lesson includes activities, online quiz games, and worksheets in addition to presentations, resources, and other materials aimed at addressing key factors associated with youth e-cigarette use.

They also include ways to change adolescents’ attitudes towards and misperceptions about e-cigarettes; increasing their refusal skills to pulls of flavors, marketing, and social media; reducing stress and depression which have been linked to e-cigarette initiation and use; improving coping; and decreasing intentions and actual use of all e-cigarette products.

To learn more about this program, visit their website!

Children’s Programs: K-5th Grade

LifeSkills

Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is an evidence-based prevention program for substance abuse and violence. Not only is the curriculum flexible in how it can be implemented, but it has been proven to be very effective.

Over the course of testing an analysis, LifeSkills has been proven effective at reducing tobacco, alcohol, opioid, and illicit drug use by as much as 80%.

To learn more, visit their website!

Bounceback

An inclusive program for K-5th grades that offers safe programing for youngsters who have experienced tramatic events or situations. 

Focusing on social problem solving, psychoeducation, and relaxation, while adding additional components, such as feelings identification and positive activities.

To learn more, check out their website!

PAX - Good Behavior Game

PAX Good Behavior Game® is an evidence-based universal prevention intervention that is delivered to students by their teachers. Within this practice, teachers can improve students’ self-regulation through daily routines, tasks, and re-enforcing good behavior within the classroom. 

In doing so, children’s self-regulation strengthens, resulting in improved attention during class, better test scores, and so much more! 

To learn more about PAX, visit their website!

Adolescent Programs: 6-12th Grade

LifeSkills

Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is an evidence-based prevention program for substance abuse and violence. Proven to help increase self-esteem, develop healthy attitudes, and improve their knowledge of essential life skills.

Over the course of testing an analysis, LifeSkills has been proven effective at reducing tobacco, alcohol, opioid, and illicit drug use by as much as 80%. 

To learn more, visit their website!

Teen Intervene

Teen Intervene is a brief early intervention program for 12-to 19-year-old individuals who display the early stages of alcohol or drug involvement. Offering education, support and guidance for teens and parents. 

Teen Intervene program helps youth:

  • Identify the reasons they have chosen to use alcohol or other drugs.
    • Was this a one-time use?
    • Was peer pressure part of why they used?
  • Examine the effects of substance abuse in their lives.
    • Are they getting behind in school?
    • Is it effecting thier relationships with friends and/or family?
    • Are they experiencing a need to use more?
  • Learn to make healthier choices.
    • A personalized approach based off their needs.
    • Is treatment with a counselor needed?

Learn more, here.

Unity Circle, Girls Circle, The Council for Boys and Young Men

Unity Circle™ is a structred support group, rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principals. This model is for people of all genders and addresses needs and stengths while honoring and celebrating the circle participants. To learn more, visit their website!

Girls Circle® is for those, ages 9-18, that identify with female development. Offering a safe, structured support group that is designed to increase positive connection, resiliency practices, personal and collective strengths and more! To learn more about this group, visit their website!

The Council for Boys and Young Men® is a strength-based group approach for those, ages 9-18, who identify with male development and is inclusive LGTBQ+ youth. This group offers a space for finding belonging, build assets, and deconstruct harmful masculinity believes as they journey into manhood. To learn more, visit their website!

SSET (Supporting Students Exposed to Trauma)

For schools that do not have access to school-based clinicians, SSET is designed for teachers and nonclinical school counselors. SSET is a program that can be utilized on grades 5-12 and is a school-based group intervention for students who have been exposed to traumatic events, bullying, depression, and/or are suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

Utilizing this program gives schools the tools and opportunity to address underlying concerns that may be prevention a student from learning in the classroom. Offering a safe environment to implement coping skills and other lesson plans to help students reduce trauma symptoms and improvements in behavior.

To learn more, visit their website!

Catch My Breath | Vaping Education for Grades 5-12

Developed by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health, Catch My Breath is a peer-reviewed, evidence-based youth vaping prevention program for grades 5-12.

Providing up-to-date information to teachers, parents, and health professionals to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about the use of e-cigarettes, including JUUL and disposable devices.

To learn more, visit their website!

This Is Not About Drugs (TINAD)

An education program the at specifically designed to speak to use of prescription pain medication, fentanyl, and heroin substance use in youth. The goal of this program is to prevent misuse, educate on risks, how to recognize an overdose, teach the basics on naloxone (NARCAN) to reverse an overdose, and more. 

This program is designed for grades 6-12 and can take place in a classroom or small group setting. It was built to fit within various classroom timeframes and aligns with most health curriculums. The NIDA principals of risk and protective factors are weaved into this program, and it also complements the LifeSkills and Too Good Programs from Botvin. 

To learn more, visit their website

Positive Action

Positive Action® teaches the values of positive actions and the consequences of negative actions of substance use. This program uses short-term strategies and informational approaches instead of scare tactics when implementing the programming. 

To learn more, visit their website!

PreVenture

PreVenture® is a prevention program for youth aged 12-18 that uses personality-focused interventions to promote mental health and reduce the risk of substance use.

Workshops are designed to help students learn useful coping skills, set long term goals, and channel their personality traits towards achieving them, so that they can thrive in all areas of their lives.

To learn more, visit their website!

Adult Programs: Ages 18+

Active Parenting

As a parent, it can be hard to navigate the changing stages between childhood and teenage years. Which is why we offer this program! 

The Active Parenting™ curriculum offers tips and tricks to parents and caregivers for teaching their kids to be responsible, courageous children that can resist negative peer pressure. It also helps parents gain confidence and courage to face the challenges (and savor the joys) of their children’s teen years. 

To learn more, visit their website!

Parenting Inside Out (PIO)

Parenting Inside Out® is an evidence-based parenting skills training program that was developed for criminal justice involved parents. There are three versions of this program that are currently available. One for Prison, one for Jail, and one for Community. 

Teaching parents a way of navigating life that uses healthy, pro-social skills to interact with children, partners, co-parents, officials, friends, and family. With PIO training, criminal-justice-involved adults can become better parents and role models in their children’s lives.

To learn more, visit their website!

Triple P Parenting

Or, as we like to call it, a Parenting Empowerment Program. This parenting and family support system is designed to prevent – as well as treat – behavioral and emotional problems in children and teenagers.

We provide a safe, judgement free area for you to learn about different styles of parenting that might be beneficial to your family. We rely on the expertise of trained facilitators and the experience that each parent/caregiver brings. our conversations are informative, casual, and considerate of different parenting styles work for different families.

To learn more, visit their website!

PAX Tools

A collection of evidence-based, trauma-informed strategies to improve cooperation and self-regulation with youth.

PAX Tools draws on decades of science to create strategies that support parents, youth workers, and other caring adults to create a nurturing environment that ultimately helps kids thrive!

Studies have shown that utilizing PAX Tools within the classroom has improved classroom performance, more engagement, fewer problematic behaviors, and more! To read more about the science behind the program, visit their website!

InShape

InShape Prevention Plus Wellness is designed to increase fitness, health and performance behaviors when it comes to eating healthy, getting good sleep, and ways to manage stress that doesn’t involve substance use. 

To learn more, visit their website!

BASICS

BASICS stands for Brief Alcohol Screening & Intervention for College Students. Developed by the University of Washington, this is a 2-3 session program that allows you to:

    • Learn about your alcohol and other drug use in comparison with Cornell and national college norms.
    • Learn about the science of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and how safer “doses” of alcohol are unique to you.
    • Consider that your weight, the size and alcohol percentages of drinks, and pacing (versus quick pre-games) matter in terms of how a night goes. 
    • Learn about cannabis, tobacco, other substances, and associated harm reduction strategies.
    • Consider becoming curious about your use of alcohol, cannabis, or other substances, and explore in a judgment-free environment how your alcohol or other substance use might be affecting your life.
    • Reflect in a confidential space about substance use questions and your desired outcomes.
    • Explore your self-care, stress reduction, academic, social, and sleep goals and values in relationship to substance use.
    • Assess your own risk factors and harm reduction strategies.
    • Identify potential changes that could help reduce harms and your risks of developing future problems.

To read more, click here!

Interactive Education for Ages 18+

Shawna Has a Secret (Interactive Activity)

An interactive bedroom sequence that brings awareness to common things that kids are hiding in their bedrooms, that don’t look concerning but are. During this session, you’ll be timed to find as many “concerning items” as you can. At the end of the session, we’ll run through items you might have missed and explain the concern about these items being hidden in Shawna’s bedroom. This training can be set up for parents, groups of school staff, etc.

“There’s possibilities for Prevention everywhere, and CASA-Trinity can really help to bring those possibilities to your community.”

Rachel Pena

Chief Operating Officer of Prevention, Strategy, and Promotion, at CASA-Trinity

Did you know that we also offer after-school/summer programming at our youth clubhouses and young adult spaces?