Center for Prevention Services

Agency Background – Through the eyes of a visionary pediatrician, Jonnie McLeod, the challenges of drug abuse and the benefits of prevention were presented in 1971. With support from the Junior League of Charlotte, the Center for Prevention Services (CPS) was established as the Charlotte Drug Education Center, making this one of the oldest free-standing prevention agencies in the country (most are affiliated with treatment centers or other health care providers.) CPS is a private, non-profit agency charged with providing a remedy for and a better understanding of substance abuse through prevention, education, and research. Our organization has defined prevention for the nation through community intervention and science-based educational programs for four decades.

Programs and initiatives offered through our agency span age groups and cultures at individual, family, school and community levels, however 75 percent of our programming targets youth, ages 9 – 24. CPS services include: evidence-based prevention curriculum at elementary, middle and high school levels; parenting classes; substance abuse awareness month events; the Youth Drug Survey, a 40-year longitudinal study completed every other year in middle and high schools; and environmental strategies such as merchant education, policy development, and preventing youth access to tobacco through compliance checks. We have a solid history of providing effective services with measured positive outcomes to economically disadvantaged youth, particularly those whom are susceptible for high-risk behaviors.