Regional Collaborations

An effective community-wide effort for addressing the role of drug treatment programs in Miami has been the Miami Coalition for a Safe and Drug Free Community, the first community partnership in the United States, and is the model for the billion-dollar program of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.  Its first Chairman was the then University of Miami President Thaddeus Foote. Hence, at the highest level of the University there was a deep involvement in the community effort to reduce drug use through prevention and treatment. Also involved in this effort was Dr. Clyde McCoy, as  a key advisor and founder. The Miami Coalition and the CDRC collaborate on school and household surveys of drug use in the Miami-Dade community. The Miami Coalition continues to serve a major role in the coordination and advocacy of the value of drug treatment for not only Dade County, but for the state of Florida.

The CDRC has also established collaborative relationships with the drug treatment centers in the community. The drug treatment programs cooperate in research protocols, information and education programs, and referrals to treatment.

Project SHARE (Sharing HIV/AIDS Research Efforts) is a collaborative effort between the Miami-Dade County Health Department, Office of HIV/AIDS (M-DCHD) and DAARC. This seminar series is one of the most visible community projects of the CDRC. The primary goal of the seminar series is to disseminate theory-based HIV prevention intervention strategies that scientific studies have shown to be effective to the South Florida HIV/AIDS service provider community. A secondary goal of the seminar series is to provide the opportunity for researchers to share their findings, hear the concerns of community providers, and to identify new areas for future research. The project hosts six seminars annually with up to 150 attendees from South Florida. The seminars are videotaped and distributed to interested parties throughout the state.