Care: 42 years of front lines of prevention of school use – 225 Baton Rouge

• Sponsored content
• February 6, 2025

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Property tax that benefits from renewal in May

Sponsored by the care program for me

Since 1982, the I Care program has served students from Baton Rouge and the wider community with vital use of substances and the prevention of violence.

Because the use of youthful substances and the associated risks are as much concern for students and the community as always, the need for care is as real today as it is four decades ago.

While the latest annual survey of the eighth, 10^th and 12^th Students in the US have shown promising declines in the use of adolescents, there are sobering news involving the use of illegal drugs. The death of adolescent overdose has doubled from 2019 to 2020, largely due to an overdose of fentanyl and have remained at that level ever since.

“We always work to keep up with the trends so that we can manage the prevention,” the director Erin Pourciau-Bradford says. She says that the mission and vision of this have not changed after 42 years, but the way they are executed. The technology has changed the approach, as well as the need to use effective socio-emotional strategies for coping and approaches informed of injuries.

“The use of substances is about more than the substance. It is related to many things. We need to understand what these things are, because in the end they are a catalyst for bad solutions. We want to bring people into good space to prevent potential use of substances and then abuse, “says Pourciau-Bradford, a 20-year-old teacher and advisor.

In addition to the Advisory Board and Council, I take care of working closely with law enforcement authorities and other community partners, which include the GARDERE initiative, the safety site, local hospitals and highways safety staff.

Making a choice of a healthy lifestyle that leads to academic success

The purpose of what I am interested in is to equip the students of the 12th grade K and their families in the participation of public and non -public schools with knowledge and skills to choose a healthy lifestyle.

The 20 program specialists provide individual and group sessions, attending each public school in the parish every week, with additional visits such as seeking needs and working closely with mental health and other school staff. Specialists also respond to various crises, such as school or firing in the community, suicide situations or death, and incidents involving stress of a student, grief or anxiety.

“We are able to sit with children, face face to face and develop relationships with students to determine what actions need to be done to improve their situations,” says Pourciau-Bradford. She says this is a luxury, a teacher with a classroom of 30 students is not always.

“Our ultimate goal is to make students academically successful,” she says. “To be academically successful, you must be fine.”

The I CARE team meets with students on request and referral and is available for presentations to a public and private school audience, as well as the brighter community.

Care specialists are school employees and the program is publicly funded. It is planned that the 10-year renewal of property tax in favor of the I care program is on the newsletter for May 3, 2025, municipal elections.

Learn more about the care program for Icare.brschools.org.