BHcare's Alliance awarded $50K to prevent youth opioid abuse in 3 cities

5-year grant funds training for parents, educators, health-care providers, more 

 

ANSONIA - BHcare’s Alliance for Prevention & Wellness has been chosen as a recipient of a five-year, $50,000 grant from the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act to address youth substance use in Ansonia, Derby, and Shelton. 

These towns have been identified as being in the heart of the DEA-designated high intensity drug trafficking area of south central Connecticut.

Opioid overdose fatalities in Ansonia and Derby exceeded the national rate every year from 2014 to 2018. 

More recent data shows the Ansonia rate has more than doubled, and the Shelton rate increased by 76 percent during 2018-2020. “These data provide good reason to worry about the environment in which middle and high school students in the three towns are growing to adulthood,” said Pam Mautte, director of Alliance for Prevention and Wellness.

APW’s goals are to prevent and reduce the abuse of opioids and prescription medications in the three towns. 

They will utilize the Community Anti-Drug Coalition’s Seven Strategies for Community Change to implement the Lower Naugatuck Valley Opioid Prevention Project. 

Some of the initiatives will include training and education to parents, school staff, health care providers, and faith communities; promoting the safe disposal of unused drugs in the communities; youth education and peer-to-peer learning for students; screenings; and other community-based strategies.

The CARA Program is located within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in the Drug-Free Communities Branch. 

The purpose is to enhance the efforts of current or former Drug-Free Communities recipients to prevent opioid, methamphetamine, and/or prescription drug use among youth ages 12-18 in communities throughout the United States. 

This program also seeks to change the culture and context regarding the acceptability of youth use and misuse of these substances.

The Alliance for Prevention & Wellness, a program of BHcare, is the Regional Behavioral Health Action Organization for the DMHAS Region II service area. 

APW’s mission is to foster positive mental health by preventing substance misuse and other health-risk behaviors, and by building resources that promote wellness. 

For more information, visit APW-CT.org.

This is a press release from BHcare.