Founded in 1967

1405 Highway 35
Ocean, NJ 07712

Phone: (732) 663-1800
FAX: (732) 663-1698
E-mail: mpangelini@preventionfirst.net
Website: www.preventionfirst.net

Executive Director: Mary Pat Angelini, MPA, CPS

Prevention First is an advocate for change, a provider of substance abuse and violence prevention education, and a proponent of healthy lifestyles. We work to minimize the incidence and impact of substance abuse and to counterbalance its negative impact on society. The agency attempts to empower personal growth toward positive change to prevent and eliminate substance abuse and related violence.

Prevention First offers high quality programs that equip children with fundamental tools to help them make the right choices throughout their childhood, adolescence and on into young adulthood. Today’s world requires a new skill set to safely maneuver through these crucial times in a child’s life. We provide these skills through prevention education programs in schools, businesses and the community at large.

Prevention First brings the following NJPN programs to Monmouth County:

• Monmouth County Prevention Resource Center
• Childhood Drinking (CD) Coalition
• Disabilities and Addiction Project
• Faith-based Initiative
• Jason’s Message: Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug Abuse Prevention
• Parents Who Host Lose the Most
• Take Control of Your Health
• Wellness Initiative for Senior Education (WISE)

We also provide the following additional programs:

Beginning Alcohol and Addictions Basic Education Studies (BABES)
BABES is a primary prevention program that teaches important life skills and provides accurate, non-judgmental information about the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs to children between the ages of five and nine.

Bullying Prevention (Olweus Model)
This program is a comprehensive, school-wide program designed for use in elementary, middle, or junior high schools. Its goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among school children and to improve peer relations at school. The program has been found to reduce bullying among children, improve the social climate of classrooms, and reduce related antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism and truancy.

Chess Child
Chess Child is a highly structured substance abuse prevention program targeting children 10 to 14 years of age. It works by using chess instruction, guided chess play, historic chess games and notation system study to promote the
development of the values, skills, and behaviors necessary for independent thought and purposeful, directed action.

Life Skills Training (LST)
The Life Skills Training Program seeks to promote health and well-being among children through the delivery of a
combination of general life skills, health and drug-resistance skills, information lecture, behavioral rehearsals, education props, activities, and interactive discussions. LST is one of the only programs proven to reduce the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs among adolescents, making it the most extensively evaluated substance abuse program.

Courageous Kids
Bullying is one of the toughest problems that children face in today’s society. In response to this issue, we have 
developed a four-lesson program which supports the researched-based strategy developed by Dr. Dan Olweus, a CSAP model program. Courageous Kids challenges participants to reflect on the reasons why people bully and their personal role in stopping and preventing bullying behaviors.

Marijuana Reality Check
This three-lesson program uses a video, cooperative learning and the environmental approach to change community norms around marijuana through the use of a media campaign.

Parenting Classes: Every Person Influences Children (EPIC)
This program teaches the effect of positive parenting on children today and in the future. The classes focus on family strengths and look at the risk factors associated with substance abuse and child abuse. 

Project Oz
This curriculum provides an innovative approach to education and prevention of substance abuse among school-aged children with learning disabilities and mild retardation. It’s specifically designed to assist these children by responding to and addressing a variety of issues, stressors, and problems they face in a productive and positive manner.

Safe Dates
This is a program designed to stop or prevent the initiation of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse on dates or between individuals involved in a dating relationship. The intended age range is 7th and 8th grades. Safe Dates consists of five components: a nine-session curriculum, a play script, a poster contest, parent materials, and a teacher training outline as well as an optional booster session.

Second Step Conflict Resolution
As children enter adolescence, they often experience conflicting and confusing emotions. This program focuses  on reducing impulsive and aggressive behavior and increasing the level of social competence among pre-teens.

Strengthening Families Program
This comprehensive, primary prevention program focuses on building and sustaining “healthy families.” Working in
collaboration with a number of community organizations, it combines prevention education with strategies for behavioral and community change.

Training Institute
Our professional staff can provide free presentations on a variety of topics through our Training Institute. For more information, call Denise Stevens at 732-663-1800 ext. 245.