In our latest guest blog post, we are spotlighting the Idaho RADAR Center. This organization offers resources on drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse for local organizations and state agencies. You can visit their website, Twitter, and Facebook page for more details.

The Idaho Regional Alcohol Drug Awareness Resource Center, also known as the RADAR Center, provides free substance abuse prevention and addiction treatment resources to Idahoans. We are a partnership of several state agencies and are contracted by our state partners to provide resources specifically in the areas of tobacco prevention/cessation, underage drinking prevention, and substance abuse prevention and treatment in general. Our staff continually searches for updated and current information on substance abuse and addiction treatment. Our center also includes a video lending library for Idaho patrons. Although we may only serve Idaho patrons with print and video materials, there is a wealth of information in the form of pdf files and links that can be accessed by anyone.

We receive the majority of our free print materials from our federal partners—SAMHSA, NIDA, NIAAA, and CDC. The Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists (SALIS) network is also a great source of information. RADAR is a member of this international association of individuals and organizations with special interests in the exchange and dissemination of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) information.

The RADAR Center serves anyone who lives in Idaho; however, our patrons are primarily K-12 educators and school counselors, substance abuse professionals, and students. We work in collaboration with a number of community partners including government agencies, coalitions, schools, correction facilities, and addiction/mental health treatment facilities.

So, although we do not provide direct prevention and treatment services we provide resources to community partners to support them in the work they do. It is so gratifying to be able to provide resources to partners that have little or no budget to obtain materials. Many new patrons who come to our center walk out with arm loads of resources– you would think they had won the lottery. That’s how appreciative they are to have this resource in Idaho.