Too Good for Drugs and Violence
Local governments can invest in this strategy using State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
- This strategy can help promote healthy childhood environments. The U.S. Department of Treasury has indicated that strategies that help achieve this outcome are eligible for the use of Fiscal Recovery Funds.
- Investments in this strategy are SLFRF-eligible as long as they are made in qualified census tracts or are designed to assist populations or communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Program overview
- Building students’ skills to reduce risky behavior: Too Good is a comprehensive family of substance use and violence prevention curricula designed for use in K-12 classrooms. The curricula promote the development of self-efficacy and interpersonal skills to enhance protective factors and mitigate the risk factors associated with substance use, aggression, or antisocial behavior in children and adolescents.
- Tailoring programming to students’ developmental level: Too Good includes both Too Good for Drugs, which focuses on substance use prevention, and Too Good for Violence, which focuses on violence prevention. Both programs comprise grade-specific curriculum volumes for kindergarten through 12th grade. The skills and topics addressed in each curriculum are tailored to the intellectual, cognitive, and social development of children in each age group.
- Designed for delivery in a school environment: Too Good curricula are designed for delivery in a classroom-style setting, and are delivered by teachers, school counselors, mental health providers, and other professionals. The scripted lesson design requires minimal preparation to implement and provides a clear framework to facilitate implementation with high fidelity to the program model. All Too Good curricula take a “skills-based approach,” which emphasizes interactive and hands-on instruction to build, practice, and reinforce skills that will prepare students to make healthy and responsible decisions.
- Reducing the risk of substance use: Too Good for Drugs reduces students’ risk of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs use by communicating the harms of substance use as well as addressing the social normative factors related to substance use in the five risk domains. The program teaches five self-efficacy and interpersonal development skills: setting reachable goals, making responsible decisions, positive peer bonding, identifying and managing emotions, and communicating effectively. The skills developed are then applied in developmentally appropriate substance use information lessons for additional practice and reinforcement throughout the course. Enhanced skills development and information about the safe use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines and the effects of using alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs on the body are also covered. Students develop these skills through ten lessons delivered once per week.
- Reducing the risk of engaging in violence: Too Good for Violence promotes positive social development and supportive relationships as part of its broader conflict resolution and problem-solving development tracks. The program teaches five self-efficacy and interpersonal development skills: setting reachable goals, making responsible decisions, positive peer bonding, identifying and managing emotions, and communicating effectively. Students have the opportunity to apply these skills through developmentally appropriate violence prevention lessons, including Anger Management, Peaceful Conflict Resolution, Identifying and Managing Bullying Situations, and Respect for Self and Others. Students develop these skills through ten lessons delivered once per week.
- Strategies
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Substance use treatment and preventionSchool-based supports for child health and well-being
- Cost per Participant
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$750 per classroom kit; $300-$1,500 per day for teacher training workshops
Two studies with rigorous designs provide some evidence for Too Good for Drugs and Too Good for Violence as strategies for improving children and adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and values around substance use and violence.
● This assessment is based on evidence from a 2006 systematic review.
- Establish an implementation team: School districts should form an implementation team consisting of three or more full-time professionals who have a background in prevention education, organizational change management, and fidelity of implementation. Among other tasks, the implementation team will build communication and feedback loops, identify and prepare facilitators, and address operational needs (e.g., distribution of program kits).
- Conduct a pilot: Before full implementation, school districts should consider conducting a pilot, where instructors deliver the Too Good curriculum at selected schools or in a subsection of classrooms. During this phase, the implementation team should monitor lesson delivery, assess instructors’ fidelity to the model, and collect data on student outcomes. This approach can allow school districts to fine tune their processes before implementing the program widely.
- Monitor and assess lesson delivery: Once full implementation begins, school districts should ensure that staff are delivering lessons on schedule and in a manner consistent with the Too Good model. Collecting data at this stage can facilitate continuous improvement and allow the school district to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program to any funders. Both Too Good for Drugs and Too Good for Violence curricula include evaluation instruments for each grade level, allowing districts to collect information on instructor performance and changes in student knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and behavior.
- Adapt the model when necessary: Proper adaptations may enhance the real-world effectiveness of the Too Good programs. For example, the method of delivering activities may be adjusted to accommodate the learning needs of students. To aid school districts in identifying whether an adaptation is appropriate, Too Good provides an adaptations protocol that can be implemented by a district’s implementation team.