In 1997, Sheriff Butch Conway took office and made the decision to discontinue the DARE program in order to implement a new program designed to meet the challenges faced by Gwinnett County students.  Sheriff Conway and then Gwinnett Police Chief Carl White worked together to have the Sheriff's Department take over the program, which was at the time being taught by both departments in only half of the elementary schools.  Sheriff Conway and his staff wrote a new program called ADVANCE (Avoiding Drugs Violence and Negative Choices Early), and offered it to every elementary school using only half the staff the DARE program used.  Today, ADVANCE is offered to every fifth grade student in Gwinnett County in order to teach them about alcohol, tobacco, drugs, understanding and avoiding violence, gangs and peer pressure.

The ADVANCE program is endorsed by the Gwinnett County Police Chiefs Association, the Gwinnett County Board of Education and Gwinnett United in Drug Education (GUIDE).  It has received statewide recognition as well as interest from other school systems and law enforcement agencies.