Centro Hispano de East Tennessee

In East Tennessee, the Latino student population has increased rapidly in the last ten years, but the rate of development of bilingual resources to support their needs has not kept pace with this growth. Nationwide, data show that Latino youth are at greater risk than the overall high school population for substance abuse, including the misuse of opioids. In a brief about pushing back against a growing tide of substance abuse, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that “any comprehensive effort to reduce the toll of substance use generally—and opioids specifically—must invest in youth primary prevention programs.” These prevention efforts can interrupt pathways to addiction and overdose and lessen other negative outcomes like unintended parenthood, low educational status, and unemployment, with one estimate putting the return on investment at $18 for every dollar spent. Centro Hispano (Centro) desires to support a growing number of families facing the threat of a child or children in crisis due to substance abuse. In partnership with the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Social Work (UTCSW), they will bring something new and much-needed to this community—a culturally competent, evidence-based parenting and substance abuse prevention program targeting Latino youth ages 10-14. This underserved group is particularly vulnerable to stress and peer pressure as they navigate the tricky transition from elementary school to middle school.