Godby spoke at the Feb. 1 meeting of PIECES.
When Godby retired from the Logan School System, he said he promised to stay active and involved in the community and he has kept his word, working with PIECES, a group he was a part of from the beginning, as well as with the Logan County Community Fund.
Godby said the new project will focus on kids who are on the borderline of getting into drug abuse but who are not heavy abusers.
"My program is designed to assist kids and families where the substance abuse problem hasn’t completely taken over,” he explained. “We are in the process of creating a program for children who are on the edge — who might go either way into a life of substance abuse or not. I spoke with a lady in Charleston who got me to thinking about the problem in a different way."
Godby said a research project is also a part of the program in the hopes that it will teach professionals and educators more about what is effective and what isn’t.
Godby had forms for the PIECES members including parental permission slips and program models. The program will deal with young people between the ages of 12-18.
“The identification process will screen out heavy drug users so we can find young people who are on the borderline,” Godby said explaining how the research end of the project will show whether or not those people stayed away from drug and alcohol.
Once referrals are completed and the children and families are screened to see if they qualify, the program will be initiated, he said.
“It’s a long process,” Godby said, noting that when it begins the program will be three hours a day for 12 weeks.
PIECES board member Charlie Brown said the drug prevention group had been working with the Logan Circuit Court and the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center to assist the project for some time and that he hoped the program would be a great tool in drug prevention efforts in Logan County.
Godby said that a few years ago a study was made of the Logan County schools system which showed that the longer a student was exposed to schools over time the greater their exposure to substance abuse from peers.
“I have already met with Logan High School and Logan Middle School and Chapmanville High School and Chapmanville Middle School about this project,” Godby said. “Mr. Lucas had all his counselors in and I will be back to the schools where I did not get to meet with the counselors.
Kristi Adkins said the project would need a community advisory board and asked members of PIECES for their assistance.
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