WARWICK, Rhode Island – RI Student Assistance Services (RISAS), a non-profit organization serving 44 schools and 6,000 students in the state, today announced it has named Laura Hosley as Director of Community Prevention.

Hosley is responsible for cultivating community knowledge and awareness of substance abuse, addressing environmental barriers to risk reduction and treatment, and building long-term capacity within Rhode Island communities for addressing substance abuse. Specifically, she oversees the Drug Free Communities (DFC) grant for North Kingstown and a Block Grant for Central Falls. She also serves on committees for the Friends of Jamestown Youth (FJY), Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) and Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL).

“Laura Hosley has been working in the field of prevention for a long time and yet her passion and dedication to substance abuse prevention remains evident in every aspect of her work,” said Sarah Dinklage, Executive Director of RISAS. “Her work ethic is truly commendable and she is a tremendous asset to our organization.”

Hosley obtained her BA from the University of Rhode Island (URI), having double majored in Psychology and Education. She received her MS in Applied Management from Lesley University. Hosley worked for eight years for Fellowship Health Resources, in a residential setting with individuals struggling with chronic mental health and substance abuse issues. She then provided services as a student assistance counselor in many Rhode Island middle and high schools for over ten years for Child & Family Services of Newport County and RIEAP, Inc. Student Assistance Services (RISAS). She was also an employee assistance consultant for RIEAS.

From 2001 to 2004, Hosley worked at URI in the Cancer Prevention Research Center managing projects relating to substance abuse and public health issues. From 2004 to present, she worked for RIEAS as the Manager of Prevention and Cessation Services, coordinating grants from the Department of Health relating to youth smoking prevention. She worked with school districts to encourage the adoption of a model tobacco policy and curriculum, as well as collaborated with individuals and groups statewide an effort to promote healthy behavior in youth. The grant ended at the end of June, 2007, at which time Hosley became Manager of Community Prevention at RIEAS in charge of the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive grants (SPF SIG) for three communities: Bristol, North Kingstown, and Warwick. Hosley has been the coordinator/advisor for the Jamestown Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force for over eighteen years.

Hosley coached the Unified Volleyball team for the past two years for North Kingstown High School. She lives in Jamestown with her husband, Dave. She has three children and two step-children between the ages of fifteen and twenty years old.