Jennifer McCausland, Executive Director
As the founder of Second Chance Washington, Ms. McCausland drew national media attention to the growing epidemic of problem gambling, while working to obtain meaningful help for victims and their families. In a mere eighteen months, she personally shepherded a bill through the Washington State Legislature that for the first time, provides permanent funding for problem gambling treatment and prevention programs. She remains the state's most vigilant gambling industry watchdog.
A former hospital administrator, public policy analyst, insurance industry regulator and entrepreneur, Ms. McCausland brings a breadth of professional and political experience to her advocacy. As a founder of the Women's Health Network, she successfully secured $500,000 in pharmaceutical industry funding for a rural outreach program, and as Deputy Insurance Commissioner she drafted and secured passage of groundbreaking domestic abuse legislation that became a national model.
In addition to her proven track record of fund raising, media outreach and coalition building, Ms. McCausland brings to her advocacy an unmatched passion for the plight of problem gamblers, borne out of her own family's personal experience with the addiction's devastating impact. With the founding of the Teen Gambling Prevention Project, Ms. McCausland has now turned her energies towards educating parents and teens about the documented dangers of underage gambling, a growing epidemic that threatens the future of millions of our nation's youth.
Our Mission
A growing epidemic of teen gambling is sweeping the nation, but parents and children remain unaware of the dangers of gambling addiction. A Harvard Medical School study found teens three times as likely as adults to become addicted to gambling once exposed — one in sixteen teens may already be addicted — while other studies have discovered a disturbing link between adolescent problem gambling and tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and other high-risk behaviors. The current teen poker craze is only likely to make things worse.
In 1999, the National Gambling Impact Study called for "targeted prevention efforts" to curtail youth gambling. Six years later, the Teen Gambling Prevention Project is prepared to take up the challenge.
Campaign Overview
Using a preventative public health approach, the Center is creating a dual-tiered education campaign directed at both teens and their parents, and modeled on the highly successful, national anti-teen-smoking campaign. Public Service Announcements, earned media and educational materials will be leveraged to deliver a "gambling is not for kids" message. In response to prevalence studies that show a higher rate of addiction in males, and the growing trend to market poker as a sport, the campaign will recruit prominent sports personalities as national spokespersons.
Objective
To raise public awareness of the risks associated with all forms of teen gambling, enabling parents and teens to make an informed decision on the desirability of engaging in gambling as a form of teen entertainment.
Action Strategy
- National launch pegged to 2006 Super Bowl.
- Recruit sports personalities to be campaign role models.
- Produce paid media spots and educational materials.
- Recruit corporations and individuals to sponsor paid media spots.
- Develop national stakeholder group of corporations, individuals and non-government organizations.
- Commission further research on teen gambling.
