• The other chair of this committee over the last ten years was Jose Astigarraga.
• During the strategic planning process, the Schools Committee quickly identified the Miami-Dade County Public Schools new program, TRUST (To Reach Ultimate Success Together), as an effective implementation strategy to reach students. But, to be truly effective, it needed to be available to all middle and high school students.

• The Miami Dade County Public School System responded to this need.

• There are TRUST specialists in every middle school.
• There are TRUST specialists in every high school.

• The TRUST curriculum is available from Pre K to 12^th grade.
  
• The TRUST program staff provides training to all non-public schools.

• An early recommendation from the Schools Committee was to make community service a requirement for graduation in all public and non-public schools.

• The School systems again responded and all students must complete community service hours.

• The Drug-Free School Zone law was on the books when the Schools committee first started meeting, but it had no "system" in place to address the law.

• Signs were purchased by the PTAs/PTSAs and area businesses.

• Law enforcement helped create a single point of contact - 471-TIPS with a corresponding response.

• The media developed a campaign to inform the community.

• Follow-up on all calls/arrests was done by parent groups.

• The Schools committee was the incubator for several successful ventures.

• Drug-Free Youth In Town (D-FY-IT), a youth led club where young men and women are voluntarily drug-screened, and where youth get involve in community service and leadership roles Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

• It started in the Schools Committee.
• D-FY-IT is now the fasted growing service club in the will be in 45 public and 3 non-public schools this fall.
• D-FY-IT is a 501 ( c ) (3) - on its own now.
• Marlene Josefsberg and Elaine Beame were the co-founders of D-FY-IT and deserve our sincere appreciation for their vision.

• The Arts Collaboration Committee, under the leadership of Carole Masington, has infused substance abuse prevention and public health and safety promotion with the power of the creative arts.

• It has linked community artists with local educational, health and human services agencies through workshops and forums.
• It has published ART WORKS! Collaborations That Change Lives.

• Based on the Committee’s recommendation, the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council adapted "Arts & Social Services Collaborations" as a special funding category for future grants and set aside $250,000 for such projects.

• The fourteen institutions of higher education in South Florida created Campuses Addressing Substance Abuse (CASA), committed to a shared vision of total student wellness. They:

• Sponsor yearly conferences for faculty and students.
• Conduct peer counseling workshops and involve students in decisions-making roles.
• Conduct individual school surveys to determine problem areas and to develop effective strategies to resolve them.
• CASA has set a high standard of cooperation and is being replicated across the country.