New conditions favor actions that create rapid benefits and lower long-term costs (e.g., health, safety, human services) so that more resources can go into goods and services for global competiveness. The very existence of the economic downturn reduces organizational inertia to do things as we have always done them, thereby creating opportunities for rapid infusion of low-cost, cost-effective, scientifically proven solutions that can change health, safety, educational and other important outcomes for American communities.

Threats: Early warning data show that the downturn is already associated with more rapidly rising health-care costs driven significantly by drugs for the treatment of depression and other related mental-health problems, increases in danger to public safety, greater rates of mental illness and behavioral health problems that will harm recovery. The ongoing pessimistic ruminations in the popular media are documented to reduce recovery 12. These threats are undermining public-faith in every public and private institution in America, which has long-term political and economic consequences.

Facts: A new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2/19/09) documents multiple evidence-based programs that can prevent serious lifetime, costly mental, emotional or behavioral disorders. For example, a multi-level model of providing universal access to parenting supports, known as Triple P, can prevent child out-of-home placements and child medical injuries from abuse, prevent ADHD and Conduct Disorders as well as reduce common parent-child issues for about $12-14 per child in a community. 3-7 Another example is an effective school-based strategy—the Good Behavior Game, which divides elementary school classes into teams and reinforces desirable behaviors with rewards such as extra free time and other privileges. The strategy significantly reduces aggressive and disruptive behavior during school 8-10. This first-grade intervention has benefits in adulthood, lowering the alcohol and drug abuse 11, suicidal thoughts and attempts, 12 antisocial personality disorder13 and depression.14

There are also simple, low-cost, easy-to-use, proven strategies called “evidence-based kernels” 15 that increase educational outcomes, improve parenting, reduce mental-health problems, reduce illnesses, improve public safety, decrease crime, delinquency, and substance abuse, lower healthcare costs, improve workplace productivity, and more. The efficacy of prevention programs and various “kernels” are supported by extensive peer-reviewed scientific research.

Recovery-Stimulus Strategy. These low-cost, scientifically proven prevention strategies can have a large impact in recovery, only if used widely across America. When America had the polio epidemic in the 1950s, the entire country was mobilized after the discovery of a vaccine. Mobilization and diffusion of the low-cost strategies could happen using two existing channels: 1) the thousands of Drug-Free Communities and Weed & Seed Grantees in America who are required to mobilize around sustainable evidence-based practices and strategies rather than deliver services, and 2) Agricultural Extension through land-grant colleagues whose whole purpose has for a hundred years been to transfer and disseminate scientific knowledge for community good. Both entities use relationship “marketing” and could engage local organizations and entities to hire/retain individuals to disseminate programs and kernels throughout communities via doctors’ offices, clinics, schools, neighborhoods associations, etc. The use of low cost, proven kernels can be monitored on-line, in a strategic way that links community-wide change to a mass media scoreboard for American recovery.

Can such major population-level change happen and has it been demonstrated using low-cost strategies that can mobilize communities and produce credible change? Yes, it has been recently proven for child-maltreatment and parenting outcomes by the CDC and several foreign governments 3 4 6 7 39; proven for tobacco control 40-43; and proven for intentional and unintentional injury control 44-50. Yes, measurable change and recovery can happen quickly for whole communities and states.

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