Introduction
As already emphasized in previous papers, DWI is rampant and widespread in Albuquerque New Mexico. Despite existing federal and state laws aimed at curbing DWI, there still is a lot of these cases taking place and claiming people’s lives every year. These laws however have achieved some measurable success with large sections of the population supporting DWI initiatives. Data suggests that males are more likely to engage in DWI activities compared to females. Besides males, teenagers, especially first time drivers, specifically freshmen are most prone to risk.
It is because of these trends that a community intervention is necessary in Albuquerque. While DWI has not reached crisis level, it is important to acknowledge that more attention is necessary and that a DWI intervention plan needs to be in place. This plan will detail methods and ways that will be put in place to offer immediate and short term help to high school freshmen and other first-time drivers.
More importantly, this plan will be seeking to secure the resources needed to make DWI initiatives among high school freshmen and other first-time drivers a success. To achieve the fore mentioned detailed approach, the plan will incorporate DWI elements in Albuquerque so far dealt with. They include a clarification of the purpose of the program as well as the mission that this initiative aims to fulfill. Additionally, there will be a somewhat detailed dwelling of the community diagnosis concerning DWI in Albuquerque mainly through literature review. Other components of this intervention plan will include an articulation of the goals of the project, a time line within which implementation of the plan will take place and the objectives it hopes to meet.
Purpose
The complexity of DWI problem among the Albuquerque community cannot be solved with a single approach. In fact, Cleland & Ireland, assert that a multi-approach which he refers to triangulation is best suited to address such a problem (2006, p. 40). It is with this attitude that the plan to rid of Albuquerque of the DWI problem was hatched. Triangulation will aid a in adopting a multiple approach that will tackle every aspect associated with DWI in the Albuquerque community. Community diagnoses on Albuquerque concerning DWI point to an escalating problem that needs immediate solutions. However, before casting spotlight on Albuquerque, it is important to note that DWI trends are not only unique to Albuquerque. According to Bjorklund (2007), DWI is quite prevalent in the entire United States but trends vary from state to state. Data from the worksheet critique paints a grim picture of the DWI situation in the US and Albuquerque. For instance, in 2006, the US experienced 17,000 deaths caused directly or indirectly by DWI. That represents over 40% of deaths that occur in the US from traffic related incidents. In 2009, the US recorded slightly over 10,000 fatalities directly involving drivers with an average BAC over the legal 0.08%. In the same year, New Mexico recorded 114 fatalities a large figure by any standards though lower that of California and Texas. Albuquerque which is the 32nd largest city in the US has a population of slightly above 545,000 people. In the city, 25-44 year olds form the most dominant demographic group. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an average driver drives about 80 times while under the influence before he/she is arrested by law enforcement. In Albuquerque, the police made over 10,000 arrests associated with DWI. As mentioned earlier, teenagers and young adults account for a big proportion of DWI related crashes. They are estimated to stand at 17%. Though not all of the information can be generalized on Albuquerque, it perfectly applies in the community since variation throughout the country is only marginal.
A detailed community diagnosis captures the necessity of an immediate solution for the Albuquerque community concerning DWI. The necessity especially comes out when analysis is done on the community’s teenage population. There is a feeling among the Albuquerque community that DWI is rampant needs to be tackled urgently. The same inference is shared by organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving that stresses on the importance of coming up with a comprehensive solution especially for the young population. Additionally, the problem permeates the entire Albuquerque community with males and teenagers suffering the most.
As highlighted in the worksheet critique, the DWI problem in Albuquerque touches on almost every aspect of the demographic arrangement of the population. From the interviews with community members, there is a sense of urgency to combat the problem mainly characterized by high male and teenage DWI offenders. There is also a shared concern that despite the tough laws in place, there is little deterrent effect on a small “hardcore” section of the city’s population especially males. The priority diagnosis in the worksheet critique reveals the community’s concern for the losses to property and life that occur as a direct and indirect result of DWI. In the priority diagnosis, epidemiological data points to a decaying social fabric of the Albuquerque community through legal proceedings, vehicle forfeitures and injuries that affect families and victims of involved in DWI.
It is therefore important to prioritize availability of grants for implementation of a plan to curb DWI in this community is extremely crucial. While there are many purposes for implementing the plan, establishing a program that is viable and sustainable is necessary. The main purpose of this plan therefore is to provide the community of Albuquerque and the greater New Mexico Area with a DWI program suitable for its youth and that emphasizes early intervention through a mandatory curriculum in state high schools.
It is important to note that unlike an organizational approach, this plan focuses on a general community with a loosely constructed mission for combating DWI. It is therefore safe to assume that the consensus and communal goodwill of the community in Albuquerque is the community’s mission in combating DWI.
Community Diagnosis
From the diagnosis highlighted above, it is important to note that the existence of DWI in the Albuquerque community is real and widespread. The effect transcends almost all demographic sections of the population that are vulnerable to DWI. Males are the most affected while females and teenagers follow closely follow. Despite the initiatives put in place, there are indications of continuous engagement in drunk driving by a considerable number of members of the public effectively putting the lives of other city residents in danger. The continued existence of this problem in Albuquerque city continues to expose the place to a ripple effect of the adverse effects of DWI. There is a considerable amount of loses that community of Albuquerque is incurring to drunk driving chief among them being loss of lives. Additionally, DWI wreaks havoc on the social setting of the community because legal proceedings, vehicle forfeitures or injuries traumatize the immediate family of anyone involved.
Chief community nursing diagnosis
From the literature available, it is evident that DWI is rampant in the community especially among young people. It is also evident that failure of some and/or many social and administrative state organs is chiefly responsible. From the available literature, analysis and conclusions, it is clear that there is ineffective coping by community youth evidenced by disturbance in vocational and social functioning related to false perception and ambivalence of community to understand the dangers of posttraumatic consequence that occur from this crime.
Community assessment
Albuquerque is New Mexico’s largest city and US’s 32 largest city with population totaling 545, 852 people according to the 2010 national Census. However, after including the metropolitan area of city of Los Rancho, population increases to over 900,000. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the US coming in 6th position as of 2007 (Carr, 2009). The city is unique and a cultural melting pot that representative of the different origins of the people of the US.
The following data as represented in the initial DWI report better captures the population of New Mexico.
Albuquerque is a cosmopolitan urban center with nearly all major ethnic and racial communities in the US represented in the city (Taylor & Oberman, 2006). According to the US census of 2010, whites, other races, Native Americans and African-Americans form the majority of Albuquerque population. It is important to note that a major part of the Albuquerque’s White population consist of Latinos as the table below illustrates.
According to the census, the population density of the city stood at 3010.7 with 239,166 households, and 224,330 families. Slightly over 30% of the households had children under the age of 18 while slightly over 12% of the households had females as the heads (Carr, 2009). The age distribution according to the 2010 census was as the table below illustrates.
Figure 1: Population Distribution in Albuquerque (2010 Population Census)
Literature review
DWI in Albuquerque and New Mexico
Given that Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico, the statistics about DWI in the state will therefore mostly apply on the city as well. There is little variation on the margins of error between the state and city figures especially on drunk driving. It is therefore important to note that reference to statistics on DWI in New Mexico will be part of the analysis on city of Albuquerque from time to time. The city of Albuquerque is full of social trends that point to a persistent problem of DWI. A documentary a while back on drug usage among New Mexico students pointed out that over 13% of students in the state had more than once received experimental drug offers at school (Dempsey & Forst, 2011).
To understand the gravity of DWI problem in Albuquerque and the need for an immediate solution, it is important to have a look at related information. According to Wanberg et al. (2004, p. 367), fatalities in Bernalilo county have as late as 2007 sea sawed at around 2.83 fatalities per 100000 people. Media reports as late as 2010 quoted police as saying that fatalities and arrests had reduced to a low of 3500. Despite the decline, the number is still high by any standards. According to official statistics, New Mexico recorded 92 fatal accidents in 2008 in which at least one driver had a BAC of 0.08 or more. At the same time over 105 people were killed in New Mexico where at one driver consumed alcohol past the legal limit. According to data presented in 2009 by the Century council, New Mexico recorded alcohol impaired fatalities numbering 114. 28 cases represented fatalities of people less than 21 years of age. DWI arrests included 131 arrests of people less than 18 years, while 21 people under 18 years were arrested with drunkenness.
In an interview with Victoria Romero of MADD, she concedes that driving while intoxicated be it in Albuquerque causes injuries and death gives impetus to classification of DWI as an important problem that needs tackling. According to Romero, quoting MADD statistics as compiled from other sources, an average drunk driver drives about 80 times while under the influence before he/she is arrested for the first time. Romero estimates that is likely that one in three people will get involved in alcohol related crashes in their lifetime.
DWI in the US and New Mexico
The graph below compares alcohol impaired driving fatalities in the US and New Mexico in 2009.
Other statistics from Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration point to a persistent and recurring DWI problem in NM as the following graph illustrated in the graph below and needing immediate solutions.
One of the most important aspects of DWI in Albuquerque and that forms the basis of this program plan is gender and age. There is sufficient evidence showing that men are the majority of DWI offenders in NM and Albuquerque. However, there is also sufficient evidence showing that the number of female offenders is rising as is the number of young people involved. According to Victoria of MADD, men make up majority of arrests and convictions in Bernalillo County where city of Albuquerque falls. However, as the following graph shows, female arrests and convictions have steadily grown, especially in the three years analyzed, and make up a considerable part of the county’s DWI statistics (Adam & Maurice, 2011).
Age is another factor that plays an important role in DWI. According to Victoria of MADD, more than half of the approximately 30,000 people who lose their lives in the US every year to traffic accidents are less than 21 years. The organization adds that more than half of deaths of teenagers aged 16-19 are a result of car crashes. Given the above statistics therefore, teenager deaths from car crashes account for nearly 17% of all car related deaths in the US. While a big part of these deaths result from factors such as negligence, a proportion are a result of drunk driving.
DWI and youth in Albuquerque
There is an explicit link between underage drinking the use and occurrence of DWI cases in this group. In 2007, US surgeon general confirmed the above while in a visit to New Mexico by asserting that the state had a major problem in underage drinking, a problem persistent in other US states as well. Citing a report by 2005 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS); 2005 United States Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS); 2004-2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the surgeon general said that more than a third of 9th graders and almost half of all 11th and 12th graders reported to have taken alcohol in the last one month in 2005. From the report, the surgeon general noted that over 60% of 9th graders and over 70% of 11th and 12th graders had engaged in binge drinking in the past month and probably some had been involved in DWI activities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on the other hand released a report on the number of underage DWI driving fatalities that showed a decrease of 73%. According to the organization underage drinking fatalities decreased from 5215 to 1398 in 2009. Despite the good showing, the above rates are still too high considering every life lost affects communities and the nation. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are at least two young Americans killed in DWI fatalities for every 100000 Americans less than 21 years of age. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that there are slightly over 13 million licensed divers aged between 15 and 20 years in the US as of 2007. The organization also notes that motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death among this group in the US today. A big percentage of these accidents are caused by DWI related activities. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) further notes that in 2009 11% of all drivers involved in fatal crashes were young drivers falling between ages 15 and 20 years. Among the above lot in the same year, 33% of all drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking while 28% of drivers killed had a BAC of 0.08 or more. A factor that underscores the importance of the program plan put in place to offer DWI education to this group through both public and private schools. Furthermore, slightly over 2% of drivers involved in fatal crashes were repeat offenders with previous DWI conviction.
DWI and the community
Many scholars argue that driving while intoxicated is a serious event that has plagued the American society including the state of New Mexico for a long time. There is consensus from the many studies conducted that there is little progress in curbing DWI rates. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, The US recorded 1.48 million DWI related arrests in 2008. According to Taylor & Oberman (2006), Bernalillo County where the city of Albuquerque belongs registered a 13% increase in DWI arrests in 2007 compared to 2006.
DWI experts argue that so long as alcohol is available, DWI cases will always be there. What baffles social experts is the viewing of DWI by the American community including Albuquerque as just another crime. Considering this attitude, it is safe to make a hypothetical assumption that it is a plausible cause of the continuation of the DWI related crimes. To an extent, there is some sort of social desensitization on the part of the community concerning DWI. There is consensus among sociologists that social desensitization holds relevance as to the decision to drink and drive.
Given the social trends that characterize the American community including Albuquerque, it is fair to conclude that social desensitization has permeated the society greatly influencing the young generation of drivers. To them, DWI is another crime like any other and the loss of life aspect in it is not as important.
Desensitization and acceptance of the drinking levels existing in the American society are products of a fast changing society. In colonial US, drinking was allowed and occasional drunkenness was not frowned upon. However, people’s drinking habits were strictly controlled by strong social sanctions that guided people especially young people on how to drink and behave. While colonial America had different traffic patterns there is no doubt that the cultural patterns and the trends concerning DWI that prevailed at that time were a bit different from what exists today. Nowadays, there is more permissiveness and parent’s attitude towards alcohol consumption is more or less casual.
Besides the increased liberalism in the society, some scholars argue that the status of the society today is somehow to blame for increased social ills such as DWI. According to Gerdes (2004), there is quite a disconnection in the understanding between the crimes committed by members of the society and the consequences. As such people especially young people with little life experience fail o understand that committing offenses such as DWI has a ripple effect on the community (Melton, 2007).
Specific Intervention
On the backdrop of the underlying DWI problem, the proposed intervention will require every high school freshman to undergo mandatory DWI classes in both public and private schools. Various studies commissioned by non-governmental organizations and governmental agencies have cast grim picture of the involvement of the youth in DWI. There is a high rate of alcohol consumption among teenagers who are also acquiring driving licenses for the first time ever. As such, the group is exposed and vulnerable to DWI ills more than any other. Because driving habits develop from a very young age, targeting this group makes perfect sense since a good portion is likely to adopt good driving etiquette. It is assumed that in the long-term, the program is going to have a lasting safe positive impact in regard to DWI in the city as well as the state.
It is important to note that in the state of New Mexico, there is an existing law requiring first time driver’s licensees in the state to take a mandatory DWI awareness class. The state legislature passed the law in 1993 making it compulsory for all licensees between the ages of 18 and 24 to take the above-mentioned class. This law provides for the establishment of an informal class for the above age group which runs in cooperation with the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department, traffic safety bureau and the Division for continuing education which develops the curriculum for the course. While the above is a noble initiative that can be credited for saving lives, it is fair to conclude that teenagers are underrepresented. Reports indicate that teenagers start taking alcohol as early as grade 9. Therefore waiting up to 18 years to offer DWI education to only first time licensees is not adequate. This is the main reason why this program targets teenagers of school going age to ensure maximum exposure to the group. Additionally, having mandatory DWI education in high school reaches far more people than those envisioned in the existing law. It is important to note that there is a law existing in the state of New Mexico that offers compulsory DWI education to first time licensees. However, it’s fair to assume that this law leaves out a huge chunk of the important people that need the education to stay alive and free from DWI activities.
Goals and objectives
This program plan aims at drastically reducing DWI cases in Albuquerque and surrounding communities. The program lays emphasis on teenagers and high school freshmen who make up the majority of young and new drivers in the city and the state. Because most of them are still schooling, school provides the best plat form through which DWI information can reach the target group. This program plan identifies seven goals that when achieved will go a long way in curbing DWI on Albuquerque’s roads.
The most important goal of is to ensure every high school freshman goes through mandatory DWI education that will be availed in their respective schools. The main objective here is to ensure a majority of young drivers acquire good driving etiquette especially concerning DWI. The program will be aiming at achieving roughly 80% attendance rate in DWI classes within a year. During the same period, the program projects development of a uniform curriculum that will help harmonize DWI education offered in the schools.
The program anticipates unequivocal support from federal state and local authorities, especially the latter two. It is therefore one of its goals to petition the state legislature and the city council to pass laws that make DWI education in both private and public schools mandatory for all fresh men. The aim is to reach as many high teenagers as possible. The law will come in hand considering the possibility of encountering resistance from entities such as private schools. Existence of such a law will accord the program a comprehensive framework within which it will implement DWI education among the target community. Additionally, passage of such a law will help in raising DWI education awareness in the state and specifically the Albuquerque community. As mentioned earlier, there already is a law providing for mandatory DWI awareness classes in the state of New Mexico. This program may seek an amendment to the law or an enactment of a completely new one that will exist alongside the present one.
As said earlier, the program will ensure every high school freshman goes through mandatory DWI education in the state. The above assertion relates directly to another goal of the program that aims at increasing DWI knowledge among the target group by at least 70%. To achieve the above, the program will avail DWI course and information materials to high school freshmen in participant schools. To boost knowledge dispensation among this group, the program envisions a common testing level that will provide a uniform testing platform that will determine if the target group is gaining or not.
If there is a 70% growth in DWI information, there will be a drop in the DWI cases involving high school teenagers. In fact, according to the program, there will be a corresponding 70% drop in the DWI cases involving teenagers in the community. There will be continuous monitoring of progress especially through police reports to determine if the program is having the desired impact. It is worth mentioning here that a reduction in DWI cases involving teenagers is a precursor to achieving another goal in the program that aims at reducing injuries and fatalities.
According to the Healthy People 2020 report, there is a growing trend in the US involving children and teenagers riding in the same vehicle driven by a person under the influence. Normally, these passengers ride in the vehicles because they have limited options. More often than not, they include children and teenagers who cannot drive because they are not licensed to do so. This program aims at enlightening young people in similar circumstances to make informed choices about the drivers they ride with. The program aims at including parents and other stakeholders in the community to help teenagers and young drivers make informed decisions concerning DWI and third parties who ride in their cars. By so doing, Albuquerque’s teenagers will appreciate the value of their passengers’ lives by ensuring sobriety when a third party is involved.
One of the goals above is to reduce the number of DWI cases involving teenagers including arrests. The other goal of the program directly relates to the above. The program aims at reducing the number of fatalities resulting from DWI related crashes involving teenage drivers. As pointed earlier, if Albuquerque’s teenagers grasp sufficient DWI knowledge, the knowledge level will rise to over 70% directly translating to a 70% drop in DWI cases involving high school fresh men and teenagers. The reduced cases will ultimately lead to a drop of in injuries and fatalities involving teenage drivers in the community. The program will be aiming to ensure that over 80% of teenagers involved in the program are not involved in DWI cases, a pointy closely related to one of the goals above. Furthermore, the program identifies a closely related goal; that of reducing the number of DWI arrests involving teenage drivers in the Albuquerque community.
Activities and Personnel
Success of this program is highly dependent on a massive number of human and financial resources. As identified in the program plan, success will depend on the availability of the various professionals that will be needed to implement the program’s various aspects.
The program plan identifies various activities including teaching, designing, public campaigning, law drafting and law making, data analysis, monitoring and evaluation and public relations. All the above activities are geared towards making a successful launch transitioning to smooth implementation of the program.
Teachers will be the main drivers of this program since they will be the ones dispensing DWI education as laid out in the curriculum. Initially, already existing government teachers in the participating schools will be the ones teaching students on volunteer basis. Using existing teachers will be a lot easier for program leaders since the teachers understand their students better and are better placed to implement the curriculum owing to their vast experience in the profession. Besides teachers, designers will come in handy in the success of the program. Pending passage of supporting legislation, the program will initially be solely dependent on community good will and cooperation of participating schools. It will therefore be very crucial that school heads and the community are approached cautiously with a convincing message to participate in the program. Designers’ work will be to come up with creative messaging that will capture the target group with or without an existing law compelling them to do so. The same message will be extended to school, heads who will be persuaded to make DWI education mandatory in their schools. Besides, there will be regular public campaigns carried out in the community with the aim of garnering support from stakeholders especially parents. Other professionals that will be crucial to the success of the initiative will be lawyers. Lawyers working in the initiative will be key in drafting the petition that will be presented to law makers and the draft DWI law that will make DWI education compulsory in both public and private schools. The program will need monitoring and evaluation professionals who will be key in ensuring all targets are met as laid out in the plan. Evaluation will be done in various stages of the program mainly in three and six month intervals. Evaluation and monitoring professionals will work hand in hand with data analysts who will be charged with the responsibility of analyzing all data including police reports to determine if the program is having impact as envisioned in the program plan. Additionally, there will be public relations officers who will act as the liaison between the community, the program leaders and schools offering the program. Other personnel involved will be data collectors and interviewers. Their main work will be to carry out surveys among students and also among community members whose children will be participating in the study.
Hypothetically, the program will rely on evidence based teaching that will emphasize prevention of DWI related activities. The curriculum will stress on the dangers and consequences of substance abuse and driving under the influence. There will be support from by the program’s leaders as well as other interested stakeholders including organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Teens Against Drunk Driving. There will be the involvement of the New Mexico State Police and Albuquerque police department and Bernalillo County in providing DWI prevention education for selected evenings of the week. In addition to teaching, there will be media campaigns conducted through print and radio at selected times throughout the program’s life. Furthermore, the program will also advocate for alcohol free events including prom holidays and school events.
It is important to note that most of the professionals that will be involved in the implementation of the program will be volunteers. In fact, safe for government teachers who will be paid an additional $15 an hour on top of what the government pays them, the rest of the staff will be volunteers who will work on their own volition. Volunteering is a key part of the program plan since program leaders will aim to cut costs to ensure achievement of desired results using minimum resources.
Program timeline
Ultimately, planners would like to see this program run indefinitely especially after legislation put in place. However, the initial plan will run for one year with regular monitoring and evaluation to determine its effectiveness. Different goals and objectives will take place within their time frames. Some like equipping freshman students with DWI related knowledge will be evaluated within a span of three months while others like reducing DWI related arrests and DWI cases among the target group will take a longer time, between six months and one year. Beyond the above timeline, it is projected that the initiative will be part of the schools curriculum in the long run and will be a major component of efforts by authorities and non-governmental organizations to educate the public about dangers of DWI. The initial timeline of this program is included in the appendix as it appears in the program plan.
Budgeting
According to Kerzner (2004), a project’s time line and budget go hand in hand. As noted earlier, the government will contribute towards the financial resources of this plan. Besides the government, program planners will seek additional funds from donors. The financial resources needed for this project will mainly be used in salaries to the teaching staff and a stipend for volunteers who will be involved in implementation. As identified in the program plan, the plan needs to pay an extra $15 per hour to teachers who will take part in teaching the target group. Twenty schools have already agreed to take part in the program ion a pilot basis. Initially, every school will allocate two teachers on the program. The teachers will each teach for two hours for two days a week. In total the program will be operating with forty teachers initially till it is expanded. The secretariat will be operating with five volunteer lawyers, ten designers, two curriculum specialists and five data and information analysts. Additionally, the secretariat will need operating premises and miscellaneous allocation that will cater for unforeseen expenditures. A conservative estimate of the entire expenditure comprising of salaries and stipend allowances to volunteer staff, design and printing of campaign materials renting out premises and carrying out public campaigns will total to $ 250,000. The following table summarizes campaign budget estimates.
Methods to evaluate each objective
As mentioned earlier, there will be a continuous evaluation of the above-mentioned objectives to determine if set targets are met. According to Charvat (2003), continuous evaluation of goals and objectives helps project planners to identify weaknesses and loopholes that are likely to drag the project behind. Another scholar supports the above position by saying that from the evaluation; some of the goals and objectives may be modified or replaced altogether. The means of verification of a project goal and/or objective is crucial top effective monitoring and evaluation (Rad, F. et al. (2005)).
One of the goals is to ensure that every teenager and high school freshman undergoes through mandatory DWI classes. The objective is to ensure that every young student who is about to become a driver understands and appreciates good DWI etiquette. Attendance therefore is going to be key to the achievement of this goal. Additionally, the program will heavily rely on the cooperation of school, heads to help in achieving this objective. The main method to carry out this verification will be through examination of exam or test records of the participating students. Performance of the students will give a clear indication if there is any progress made.
One of the long-term objectives of the program is the reduction of the number of DWI-related fatalities and other DWI related incidents involving students participating in the program as well as the overall community. The above can only be achieved if there is wide spread appreciation of the safety information offered in the program. Though there are numerous ways of verification, a general survey of the community with special emphasis on the target group, will help in this particular objective.
A critical component for the success of the program is the existence of a law that makes DWI education in both public and private schools compulsory. Law making is largely the responsibility of the federal, state and city council legislatures. This is one of the program’s objectives whose achievement is dependent on successful petitioning of concerned law makers. The only means of verification is the existence of such a law after its passage. Besides, the legal team involved in the program may need to go through the passed law to ensure it meets the aim of the program.
Another aim of the program is to increase the knowledge of the participating students in by at least 70%. As earlier mentioned, the above cannot take place without an effective curriculum as well as superb teaching efforts. There also has to be some commitment from school’s administration as well support from the authorities. Whether or not the above are achieved, the most effective means of verification will be a survey among students either through exams or random polling to determine their level of knowledge. The results will be compared to the level of knowledge among students before the start of the program.
There is also an intention to reduce the number of cases involving teenagers sharing a car with someone under the influence. In the curriculum, there will be efforts to teach students to value their lives and those of other road users. To determine if the above has been achieved, careful polling and surveys will take place among students to find out if the participating students consider the safety of third parties in their cars. Additionally, there will b regular analysis of police reports to ascertain if such cases among young drivers are on the decline or not.
Evaluation timeline
As mentioned earlier, the initiative will be rolled out on a pilot basis with the intention of making it long term after supporting legislation is in place. However it is important to acknowledge that its initial success will be influential in the swaying law makers’ and stakeholders’ opinions. As such there will be rigorous monitoring and evaluation which will take place in three and six month intervals. The program plan outlines seven major goals, some of which whose implementation will take place within the above timelines. It is worth noting most of the evaluation will not be a one time event. Some of the evaluation will be on going from as early as the time of launch of the program to the end of the stipulated interval. Other evaluation timeline will be a lot different and may take longer especially in situations where external cooperation e.g. the police department is involved. One year after launch and hopefully with supporting legislation in place, the program will be ripe for evaluation on its viability in the long run. It is important to note that the long run that this program targets is five years. Effectively, it is estimated that within five years time, the program will have no hiccups and will be fully integrated into the New Mexico laws and effectively high schools. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the program evaluation timeline will be within three and six months, over a five year period.
Data collection and Evaluation
During the course of the program, data collection and evaluation will be an integral part. Both summative and formative evaluation methods will be used in the evaluation. Additionally, both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods will be used. Summative methods of evaluation will be used to make corrections as the program progresses while formative methods will help in evaluating the project at its tail end and at some pre-determined specific intervals.
Conclusion
Success of this program plan crucially depends on the availability of funds and the commitment of human resources available. State and federal support as well as community support is necessary for the long term achievement of the initial objectives as outlined above. Besides funds, an amendment of the existing law or an enactment of a new one will be necessary. As mentioned earlier, the law will broaden the mandate to include more people who deserve the education and also provide a legal framework within which the program will operate. There will be need for the provision of continuous financial support for the program. Program leaders will propose to state and federal authorities to access funding from liquor taxes and fees paid by DWI offenders in the state.
Because implementation will take place on a pilot basis, some of the components of this program plan may be changed from time to time to suit the needs of the program. For instance, there may reach a level when there will be not volunteer staff. After passages of the law governing implementation of this program, there will b a need for permanent staff, which will effectively raise the program’s budget hence changing many of its dynamics.
Funding therefore is in order as this is not an exercise in futility. There are guaranteed results and its positive impact will ripple through the community to ensure lives are saved.
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