Every school that participates in the FSA programs must certify that (on the date it signs the Program Participation Agreement), it has a Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program (DAAPP) in operation that is accessible to any officer, employee, or student at the school. The program adopted by the school must include an annual distribution to all students, faculty, and staff of information concerning drug and alcohol abuse and the school’s prevention program.
In addition, your school must conduct a biennial review (once every two years) to determine the effectiveness of its DAAPP and to ensure consistent enforcement of applicable laws, ordinances, and institutional policies against violators. These regulations can be found in 34 CFR §86.100(b). The biennial review report and supporting documents must be maintained by the school and made available to the USDE upon request
IMPORTANT: This has become a very common Program Review finding. You will be asked to provide the written policy and procedure that you have in place to measure the effectiveness of your DAAPP as well as the data analysis tools and methods that were used.
As a part of this biennial review, the school must determine—
- the number of drug and alcohol-related violations and fatalities that occur on a school’s campus or as part of any of the school’s activities and that are reported to campus officials; and
- the number and type of sanctions that are imposed by the school as a result of drug and alcohol-related violations and fatalities on the school’s campus or as part of any of the school’s activities.
The effectiveness of a school’s prevention program may be measured by tracking the number of drug & alcohol-related disciplinary actions, treatment referrals, and incidents recorded by campus police or other law enforcement officials.
You may also find it useful to track the number of students or employees attending self-help or other counseling groups related to alcohol or drug abuse; and to survey student, faculty, and employee attitudes and perceptions about the drug and alcohol problem on campus.
If a school does not certify that it has a prevention program or fails to carry out a prevention program, the Department may terminate any or all forms of federal financial assistance to the school and may require the school to repay any or all federal financial aid that it received while not in compliance.
For more information see Vol. 2, Chapter 8, page 2-147 of the FSA Handbook: http://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1213FSAHbkVol2Ch8.pdf
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