Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Program Overview

Proposition 99, approved by the California voters in the November 1988 general election, increased, by 25 cents, the tax on each pack of cigarettes sold in the state. The annual Budget Act appropriates funds from the Tobacco Surtax Fund for several purposes, including tobacco-use prevention education in schools. The Tobacco Education Research and Oversight Committee (TEROC) serves as the body responsible for providing oversight and leadership to all tobacco prevention efforts in California.

Of the Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE) funds allocated to the California Department of Education (CDE) for school-based tobacco-use prevention education programs, the California Health and Safety Code Section 104430 requires at least two-thirds of the local assistance funds be allocated to local educational agencies (LEAs) for tobacco-use prevention, intervention, and cessation programs in schools as competitive grants. The remaining one-third of local assistance funds may be used for tobacco-use prevention programs for American Indian Education Centers, statewide program evaluation, technical assistance, implementation strategies, and regional coordinating activities related to tobacco-use prevention.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the University of California (UC) also receive anti-tobacco health education monies. The CDPH Tobacco Control Program provides a statewide media campaign and community tobacco-use prevention and reduction programs. Competitive grants are offered for projects targeting a number of groups, including school-age youth. The UC Tobacco-Related Disease and Research Program funds research regarding tobacco use and the treatment of diseases related to tobacco use. Competitive awards are offered for research projects conducted corroboratively by academic institutions and schools.

Overview

The TUPE program provides funding for programs in grades six through twelve through a competitive application process for tobacco-specific student instruction, reinforcement activities, special events, and intervention and cessation programs for students. All LEAs that are certified as having a fully implemented tobacco-free school district board policy are eligible to apply for funding. Programs are locally developed, but they are expected to align with the federal Principles of Effectiveness, the recommended California guidelines for tobacco prevention in the Health Framework for California Public Schools (PDF; 2MB). (Each county office of education is eligible to receive funding through the County Technical Assistance and Leadership Funds application to assist school districts within their county in program development, to provide staff development for school and district personnel, and to provide technical assistance as needed.)

Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Program: Past, Present, and Future

Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Program: Past, Present, and Future (PDF; 9MB)

The Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Office in the California Department of Education pursues the mission of preventing and reducing commercial tobacco use among California school-aged youth, with the vision of creating a tobacco- and vape-free generation. It does this by building the capacity of local educational agencies to help students acquire the skills and knowledge they need to make healthy decisions.

Purpose/Objectives

The purpose of the TUPE program is to reduce youth tobacco use by helping young people make healthful tobacco-related decisions through tobacco-specific, research-validated educational instruction and activities that build knowledge as well as social skills and youth development assets. Collaboration with community-based tobacco control programs is an integral part of program planning. The school, parents, and the larger community must be involved in the program so that students will be aware of a cohesive effort and concern for their health and, consequently, their ability to succeed in school.

Principles of Effectiveness as Applied to Tobacco-Use

Having tobacco-free schools is one of our nation's highest priorities. Recipients of TUPE funds must use those funds in ways that are most likely to reduce tobacco use among youth. Recipients shall coordinate their TUPE-funded programs with other available prevention efforts to maximize the impact of all the tobacco prevention programs and resources available, and shall:

1. In General

   1. Be based on an assessment of objective data regarding the incidence of tobacco use in the public elementary schools and secondary schools and communities to be served, including an objective analysis of the current conditions and consequences regarding tobacco use that is based on ongoing local assessment or evaluation activities;
      
   2. Be based on an established set of performance measures aimed at ensuring that the elementary schools and secondary schools and communities to be served by the program have tobacco-free learning environment;
      
   3. Be based on scientifically based research that provides evidence that the program to be used will reduce tobacco use;
      
   4. Include meaningful and ongoing consultation with and input from parents in the development of the application and administration of the program or activity.
      
2. Periodic Evaluation
   1. REQUIREMENT-The program or activity shall undergo a periodic evaluation to assess its progress toward reducing tobacco use in schools to be served based on performance measures described above.
      
   2. USE OF RESULTS-The results shall be used to refine, improve, and strengthen the program, and to refine the performance measures, and shall also be made available to the public upon request, with public notice of such availability provided.

Data-Driven Program Continuous Improvement

The state TUPE program adopts a data-driven approach to support local TUPE programs in program planning, implementation, and continuous improvement. Major efforts have been devoted to developing and promoting timely data collection and results distribution on youth tobacco use behaviors and perception. Systematic support was also provided to local programs in program service implementation tracking.

The California Youth Tobacco Survey collects information from eighth, tenth, and twelfth-grade students regarding tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior, and the relationship between tobacco and marijuana use and mental health, as well as exposure to school- and community-based programs and activities. One specific purpose of the study is to assess the overall effectiveness of the statewide Proposition 99 and 56-funded TUPE programs in California schools, as mandated by sections 104375(c) and 104375(d) of the California Health and Safety Code.

TUPE participating schools, when selected, are required to participate in this survey. Your effort is greatly appreciated as it not only supports the evaluation of overall TUPE program performance but also informs state and county level TUPE program development.

The California Healthy Kids Survey is a highly recommended data tool to inform local TUPE service development. It is a modular, anonymous assessment recommended for students age 10 (grade 5) and above. It focuses on student connectedness, school climate, school safety, physical and mental well-being and social-emotional learning, and student supports. It allows local program leads to track student tobacco use related information down to individual school level and maintains valuable trend data.

The TUPE Standardized TUPE Activity Recording System (TUPE STARS) allows local TUPE programs to enter TUPE activity data (using computers as well as mobile devices) for activity tracking, evaluation and progress reporting purposes. TUPE STARS provides a unified database to record TUPE activities for each school site, county, district or local education agency. STARS also allows TUPE managers to access the activity dashboard to monitor user activity across multiple sites/districts, query data by a range of time, and download TUPE activity data for reporting purposes.