Welcome to the Office of Prevention Programs (OPP)!  Our goal is to plant the seeds for a drug and violence free tomorrow for all Broward County School District students.

OPP employs culturally competent family counselors and prevention specialists that have assisted in the implementation of the OPP’s vision to provide violence and substance abuse education; mental health services; and appropriate referral, treatment, and follow-up services to Broward County.  In order to move in this direction of student support, OPP has collaborated, created partnerships, and carefully planned services and programs.  We strive to always deliver quality services and welcome the opportunity to speak with interested parties.

By focusing our efforts on the four strands of prevention, the Office of Prevention Programs helps to ensure the academic success of all Broward County’s students:

1. Health and Wellness
2. Instructional Strategies
3. Substance Abuse Prevention
4. Violence Prevention

Research has repeatedly shown:  “What we do in the name of health, safety, and well-being are linked with teaching and learning. Teaching and learning can’t take place if students aren’t healthy, aren’t physically and mentally fit, or aren’t safe.”    –William Modzeleski, Director, Safe and Drug-Free School Program, U.S.

Department of Education
The Office of Prevention Programs implements evidence and science based programs and services that have been shown to be effective in meeting the needs of our students, staff and community members. Our vision is a learning environment where every student feels safe and respected, is drug-free, and is academically engaged.

Research supports the link between prevention and academic success and the critical role that schools play in getting the prevention message out to their students.  For example, students whose peers avoided substance use had test scores that were 18 points higher for reading and 45 points higher for math than those who did not.   Because children spend more than a quarter of their day at school and find many of their role models within, schools have a unique opportunity to deliver effective prevention programs.  When schools take advantage of this unique opportunity and partner with the Office of Prevention, they are able to reinforce the schoolwide norms against drug use and violence while providing students peer refusal and life skills they might never receive otherwise.

Join us in our prevention efforts, where every dollar spent on drug use prevention saves communities $4 to $5 dollars in costs for drug abuse treatment and counseling!