Aug 28, 2009 9:30 pm US/Eastern
Miami-Dade Budget Might Cut D.A.R.E Program
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
As a budget deficit of $427 million looms over Miami-Dade Commissioners, multiple cuts have been proposed and none of them are likely to be popular with the community. Programs across the board including police, the arts, and education are on the chopping block. One program that may be cut is Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E.
The D.A.R.E. program was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and is currently in 75 percent of the schools across America. The program seeks to help kids stay out of drugs and alcohol, while also helping humanize police officers to children of all ages.
"The proposed cuts to the D.A.R.E. program really involve just moving officers from the D.A.R.E unit back into the districts so you're not saving any salaries," said John Lindsay of D.A.R.E. America. "And all of the funding for the D.A.R.E supplies, the D.A.R.E work books, that comes from law enforcement trustfund money and it also comes from fundraisers."
In Miami-Dade County, drug use is actually below the average for other parts of the state. "Teen drug use in Miami-Dade County is six percent below the state average, and consistently runs below the state average. And I would attribute most of that to the D.A.R.E. program," Lindsay said.
For the students participating in the D.A.R.E. program, drugs are part of the world that they are seeing. One 11-year-old told CBS4's Tiffani Helberg that kids his age were using drugs. The students said they learned value tools while in the program. "I learned to resist alcohol and drugs when someone would offer me," said 11-year-old Daniel Capo.
Commissioner Jose Pepe Diaz said a program like D.A.R.E. is crucial not only now, but for the future as well.
"These type of programs that go directly to the route of a problem then we're gonna deal with it later on because later on you're looking at $40 thousand for each inmate a year that will come out of this situation," Diaz said. "So to me, theres only one thing and that's try to keep these programs somehow or someway."
A website has been setup by D.A.R.E. supporters and can be found by
clicking here. There is also a
Facebook group called Save D.A.R.E, Save the Children.
The next budget hearings are planned for September 3 and 17 at 5 p.m. at the Board of Count Commission Chambers (111 NW 1st Street).
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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