FCCG toolkits offer complete programs for middle, high school and college institutions, for elder service providers, addiction, medical and mental health professionals, employers, gaming operators, and others.
Problem and compulsive gambling transcends throughout every aspect of life. As a mental health disorder that does not discriminate based upon a person's gender, age or background, problem gamblers and those they negatively impact frequently encounter a diverse group of professionals and service providers throughout their daily lives. To assure that the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling is consistently identifying and developing innovative approaches to communicating effective prevention, education and outreach strategies to diverse mainstream society, the Agency has created a series of comprehensive programs for various populations and arenas.
Toolkits are available to residents and organizations in Florida. To place a request for materials, or to request an out of state order form, call the FCCG’s 24-Hour HelpLine at 888-ADMIT-IT or contact us via email.
DEALING WITH ADDICTION
Available to mental health and addiction professionals
Dealing with Addiction is a look into the complex world of cross-addiction, featuring the presence of problem gambling intermingled with substance abuse, and mental health issues. A joint effort by the FCCG and the Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, Dealing with Addiction arms treatment professionals with the resources to recognize, assess, and advise patients in their care that may also suffer from problem gambling. The toolkit contains assessment screens, research, a PowerPoint presentation geared towards service providers on cross addiction, and a compelling and insightful 15-minute video presenting recovering persons from gambling, drug, and alcohol addiction, and experienced clinicians in the field.
DIAGNOSIS: PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING
Available to physicians and health care facilities
Everyday compulsive gamblers and those they adversely affect present in doctors' offices, emergency rooms and elsewhere with symptoms never attributed to gambling. Despite research associating pathological gambling with alcoholism and substance abuse, as well as with other health conditions, rarely is the association between poor health and pathological gambling made. Chronic stress, a sedentary lifestyle and heavy exposure to secondhand smoke are also contributing factors to illness within the pathological gambling population.
By asking patients a few simple questions relative to personal gambling behaviors, medical professionals can assess whether gambling activities could be the underlying or precipitating factor in diverse medical conditions.
To learn more, the FCCG has developed a first aid toolkit for medical and other health care professionals. Diagnosis: Pathological Gambling includes a 10-minute video presentation featuring important information and field experts, as well as a comprehensive medical professionals' guide, with screening tools, collateral items for patients, and additional materials.
MANAGING THE ODDS: PROBLEM GAMBLING PROGRAM FOR THE WORKPLACE
Available to employers and employee assistance professionals
Here in Florida and across the country, gambling opportunities have grown exponentially within the past decade via the presence of new venues and games, Internet betting, and increased media coverage. In particular, the glamorization of poker and the explosion of online gambling have created unique challenges within the home, workplace, government, education arena, and elsewhere. The widespread availability, accessibility and acceptability of gaming overall have resulted in the proliferation of problem gambling and have shown its impacts at all levels, including in the workplace. Recent media accounts of embezzlement and similar cases relating to gambling and the workplace have also become prominent.
The FCCG's Managing the Odds Program empowers employers to develop a site specific plan that increases employee awareness, provides support to personnel who may be experiencing gambling related difficulties, and establishes a workplace culture conducive to recovery for employees with a gambling problem. Managing the Odds was developed to fill a void in the workplace and is intended to bridge gambling addiction services as a natural extension to existing programming regarding other employee addictions and mental health issues at all levels within large and small organizations.
MILITARY TOOLKIT
Gambling opportunities have increased nationwide and military personnel and their families are among those facing difficulties when betting in excess. The FCCG’s CD toolkit for the military, “Combat Gambling Addiction: A Toolkit for the Military” offers awareness materials for soldiers, veterans and family members. In addition, it contains a guide for military health care professionals, screening and assessment tools, a PowerPoint presentation for educational forums, an article for print and online publications, a poster with accompanying brochure, and more.
Click here to access the miliary toolkit.
PLAYING IT SAFE: PROBLEM GAMBLING AWARENESS FOR SENIORS
Available to senior service providers and educators
Playing it Safe is an educational and instructional toolkit that enables senior service providers to present the topic of gambling among older adults effectively and creatively. While there are many options and approaches one can use, the materials are designed to provide high flexibility to accommodate presentation timelines and diverse audiences. The purpose of the Playing it Safe toolkit is to provide all of the necessary background elder service providers will need to increase awareness among older adults. It includes an instructor's guide, a Dire Stakes game (CD PowerPoint Program and handout), videos of recovering persons, including field experts, a video docudrama, fact sheets, posters, brochures, playing it safe money with tips on keeping gambling recreational, collateral items and more!
YOUTH TOOLKIT: PROBLEM GAMBLING AWARENESS PROGRAM FOR ADOLESCENTS
Available to parents, teachers, and others concerned about problem gambling among youth
Over the past decade, Florida 's prevention efforts in the area of addiction have largely focused on tobacco, alcohol and substance abuse among youth. During this period, gambling has skyrocketed among adolescents and a secondary analysis of data collected from the Florida Department of Children and Families' Youth Substance Abuse Survey has revealed that more than half the students reported gambling in the past year, 13% have done so once a month or more, and 4% bet weekly. In fact, 15 % admitted to having arguments with family or friends due to gambling. Overall, the study, Gambling Among Florida Middle and High School Students, revealed that gamblers are over two times more likely than non-gamblers to be drunk or high at school and nearly six times more likely to “carry a gun” during the past year.
The FCCG's Youth Toolkit, Underage Gambling….It's Not a Game includes an introductory video about youth gambling and problem gambling, highlights the stories of recovering youth, and explains how the different program materials are intended for use. The toolkit provides tangible tools for parents, teachers, counselors and students, and furnishes insight, factual information, as well as a counselor guide, learning exercises, the State approved Problem Gambling Prevention Program for Middle and High School Students, a video docudrama on teen betting, an interactive computer game, Dire Stakes (using the PowerPoint program), collateral materials, and more. Click here to download these materials.
ARE YOU GAMBLING WITH YOUR LIFE?
An interactive CD that includes videos, this life skills training program assists Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) personnel, educators, facilitators, counselors, psychologists, and other professionals in providing essential information about the dangers and consequences of gambling to high risk young people incarcerated in DJJ facilities or outside the DJJ system. (Note: This FCCG/DJJ joint program is not intended for mainstream youth or the public school system. It is “Language Sensitive” and depicts scenes and scripts based upon actual focus group input within Florida 's DJJ dentention population.)
STUDENTS AGAINST GAMBLING ADDICTION (SAGA)
Available to universities and college personnel
The FCCG works closely with colleges and universities statewide to develop and implement problem gambling awareness programs on campus. With so many college students gambling on cards, sports, the Internet, dice and numerous other things, some get to a point where their lives become unmanageable. Ultimately, college students with a gambling problem can risk ruining their lives at a period in time when they are first gaining independence and self-reliance. Unhealthy decisions made by college age students can have lifelong negative impacts.
The FCCG program, Students Against Gambling Addiction or SAGA , developed in cooperation with the University of Central Florida, and endorsed by the National Collegiate Athlete Association's Department of Agent Gambling and Amateurism Activities, aids institutions in devising campus-wide programs, and provides training guides and/or training materials for college counselors, peer advocates, resident advisors, financial aid personnel, coaches, students/student-athletes, administrators, and others. The information is presented in a way that is easily understandable and utilizes varied approaches to communicate the message (e.g. Dire Stakes PowerPoint game).
RESPONSIBLE GAMING AND PLAYER PROTECTION
Available to gaming facility operators
One of the roles of the FCCG is to assist the gambling industry in establishing customer and employee based problem gambling awareness programs. The FCCG's Responsible Gaming and Player Protection Program (RGPPP) is a step-by-step comprehensive guide that helps the gaming industry navigate its way through conducting a self-assessment, devising an organizational philosophy, establishing an administrative and internal program structure, and developing problem and compulsive gambling policies and protocols.
The RGPPP outlines appropriate strategies for aiding persons with a gambling problem, as well as family members, and assists in guiding industry in establishing policies that discourage compulsive gambling (e.g. lack of immediate credit, check cashing provisions, self-exclusion, etc.). Moreover, the Program provides incremental instructions for program implementation, including the design of RGPPP materials, management and employee training, information for ancillary service personnel, and a follow-up and outcome evaluation survey. In addition, it allows the option of designing an employee assistance component if interested. The Program supplies all materials, including a Facility Manual, a Train-the-Trainer Manual with presentation and participant handouts, and offers important insight regarding hands-on case situations.
A CHANCE FOR CHANGE: GAMBLING ADDICTION & CRIME
Available to law enforcement, legal, judicial, probation, state and federal prison authorities
Gamblers progress through a spiral of behaviors that can eventually lead to crime. Ultimately, the gambler has a need to get money, frequently considered the “drug of choice” for the compulsive gambler. The need to obtain money results in the necessity to move, manipulate, or juggle funds and to tighten resources, often leading to the need to make a moral decision. As gamblers progress through their addiction, the difficulty of obtaining funds becomes more severe. Eventually, when they have tapped out all resources and are in an extreme situation, they are faced with choices of turning to illegal activities as a means of continuing the addiction.
The primary purpose of the FCCG’s A Chance for Change Program is to ultimately enable the judiciary to identify and secure viable alternatives to incarceration alone and to provide the opportunity for rehabilitation to persons committing crimes as the result of a gambling addiction. This program provides free supports throughout every phase of the criminal justice process to law enforcement, legal, judicial, probation, state and federal prison authorities.
WHEN GAMBLING TAKES CONTROL OF THE GAME
Available to athletic directors and school coaches.
In response to research conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG) identifying the need for youth education regarding the dangers of sports wagering, the National Federation of State High School Associations teamed up with the NCAA and the FCCG to develop a comprehensive lesson plan for high school student athletes. In addition, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) has provided this lesson to its membership and strongly encourages coaches to utilize this program as well. The program provides guidelines for coaches and educators, and furnishes a lesson plan with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation for ease of instruction.
“When Gambling Takes Control of the Game” is designed to educate high school student-athletes on the various forms of gambling, the addictive dangers of these activities, and the possible adverse impacts on a student athlete’s education, sport, professional career and future. The program is intended to empower student-athletes to make informed decisions that can impact their lives in the short and long-term, and provides the means to access information or help for a gambling problem in a secure and confidential manner.
