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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2006)
TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS Ask Raven Siletz Tribal Alcohol & Drug Programs Raven will answer your questions about problems associated with alco hol, tobacco, and other drugs. You can cal! in your questions to the numbers at right or mail them to Raven, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549. Dear Raven: I am a single mom and have been in recovery for one year. I worry about my kids going down the same road. What can I do to make sure it doesn’t happen? NA Mom Dear NA Mom: I want to say how happy I am to hear from you and to know you are in recovery. Thank you for writing. Yes, there are things you can do. One of the biggest challenges for re covering families is the time away from each other while the parents are attend ing self-help meetings. Meetings are what help keep parents in recovery, yet children can still feel that same sense of abandonment and isolation they felt when their parents were using/drink- ing. While programs of recovery teach valuable life skills, they do not neces sarily provide a set of effective parenting skills. The most important thing you can do for your children is to provide a secure and stable environment for them. Doing this will help prevent them from turning to tobacco, alcohol, or drugs. If there are recovery activities that include the whole family, I encourage you to become involved with them. It will help your children feel included in your life and recovery, and also will give you more time together. I strongly suggest you find out what parenting classes are available in your community. Some of them do in clude the whole family. If you take a parenting class, you may be pleasantly surprised at how interesting and fun they can be. Good luck, NA Mom! Please write again anytime! Raven CEDARR Community Efforts Demonstrating the Ability to Rebuild and Restore Dec. 6 • Noon Siletz Community Health Clinic Everyone is urged to attend! CEDARR Community Gathering Dec. 12*6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Siletz Tribal Community Center Dinner at 6 p.m. Panel of speakers follows Speakers are people who are in recovery and willing to share their stories. Scott and Leia Buser of NARA are the guest speakers plus three Siletz community members who are willing to be part of the panel. Please RSVP for dinner by calling 1-800-600-5599 or 541-444-8267. Prevention, Outpatient Treatment, and Women’s Transitional Siletz: 1 -800-600-5599 or 541 -444-8286 Eugene: 541-484-4234 Salem: 503-390-9494 Portland: 503-238-1512 Prevention Underage Drinking Survey Results by Delina John As the prevention coordinator for the tribe, my job is to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors in the com munity. You might be asking yourself, “What are risk and protective factors?” Following are the results of a survey called the Tribal Underage Drinking Community Profile that was given to the parents of middle and high school students and to non-parents. The students the iselves also completed them. Surveys were given out in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006. Survey results include a lot of areas, so this article will be the first of several. Look for more information in January! • • Risk Factors are characteristics of Your community's primary problems involving underage drinking individuals, their families, schools, and community environments that are as sociated with increases in alcohol and other drug use, delinquency, teen preg nancy, school dropout, and violence. Protective factors are conditions that protect young people from the nega tive consequences of exposure to risks by either reducing the impact of the risk or changing the way a person responds to the risk. Building pro tective factors can reduce the likeli hood that problem behaviors will arise. Another part of my job is to be a supportive role model for the youth in our community and educate them in alcohol/drug prevention. I wanted to share this information with you so that if needed, the Preven tion Department can assist you as a par ent or guardian. Our youth, our future generations, need to be educated about the dangers of alcohol/drugs and the harmful effects they have on our bodies. As a Siletz Tribal member, I am committed to doing what I can to help my community. Thank you. Parents - If you think your child may be at risk for alcohol, tobacco, or other drug problems and/or delinquency behaviors, please call Delina or Jenifer at 1-800-600-5599 or 541-444-8267. One of us will talk with you about risk factors and those things that help protect your child from developing those problems. They will help you make a prevention plan that will support you as a parent and provide your child with the tools to make good choices. □ Middle School ■ High School □ Adult Non-parent □ Parent ■ Grand Parent □ Not Identified Your community factors that contribute to underage drinking □ MkkM School a High School □ Artuh Hon-parent □ Parent ■ Grand Parent □ Not identified TLC Report The TLC is available to women once they have completed residential alcohol/drug treatment so they will have a safe and alcohol/drug-free home while transitioning back into their com munity. It’s primarily funded by an on going state grant so we are obligated to follow the requirements of that funding. • Residents pay 30 percent of their income to live at the TLC, which pays their rent. Residents are re sponsible to pay for their own food. Many are eligible for food stamps, which really helps while they are in early recovery. Residents have a treatment plan that outlines what their goals are and they are required to participate actively in that plan as long as they live at the TLC. Plans are indi vidual to each resident and can in clude job search, schooling, parenting classes, domestic vio lence prevention classes, volunteer work, and mental health counsel ing. All residents are required to actively participate in aftercare, • outpatient alcohol/drug treatment, and community self-help activities. Women can stay at the TLC until they are ready to live independently. This timeline is different for each person and is continuously evaluated by the residents themselves, the TLC co ordinator. and the primary counselor. The need for funds to operate the TLC far outweighs our resources and we depend heavily on volunteers. Please call Lynn Whitlow if you have any interest in becoming a volunteer! December 2006 • Siletz News • 7
