Dare To Be You

Audience: Preschoolers and their parents

Contact: Jan Miller-Heyl
Dare To Be You, Colorado State University
215 N. Linden, Suite E
Cortez, CO 81321
Phone: 970/ 565-3606, FAX: 970/ 565-4641

Dare To Be You is designed as a primary prevention program for children and their families. It can be implemented in any urban, suburban, or rural community. The initiative was implemented in community centers, day care facilities, and Head Start facilities across Colorado. The Dare To Be You model consists of three components:

  • A Family component, which offers parent, youth, and family training and activities for teaching self-responsibility, personal and parenting efficacy, communication and social skills, and problem-solving and decision-making skills.
  • A School component, which trains and supports child care providers.
  • A Community component, which provides training in the Dare To Be You strategies to community members who interact with the target families.

    Relative to comparisons, participants experienced dramatic improvements in parents' sense of competence, satisfaction with and positive attitude about being a parent, and use of nurturing family management strategies; substantial decreases in parents' use of harsh punishment and significant increases in children's developmental levels compared with peers.

    Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Model Programs, (PDF), 1999