Expansion of substance abuse prevention and mental health promotion in niagara county - northpointe council INC (NCI) is a 501(C)(3) whose mission is to provide high-quality, person-centered…

Expansion of substance abuse prevention and mental health promotion in niagara county - northpointe council INC (NCI) is a 501(C)(3) whose mission is to provide high-quality, person-centered prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery to those affected by substance use disorders and other addictions from the greater niagara area. NCI's prevention and education (P & E) program has operated for over 50 years in niagara county and has been effective at providing substance use prevention services to youth and adults throughout the county while operating as the fiscal agent and overseeing the funded community coalition, the community health alliance of north tonawanda (CHANT). Niagara county is considered socioeconomically disadvantaged as they have historically experienced health disparities with sparse resources available. According to census data, 53% of students in the county are considered poor. The U.S. Census bureau's small area health insurance estimates 20 program 2017 data reported that 8,640 individuals under 65 years of age were uninsured. Those without health insurance face a significant barrier to accessing needed healthcare. Additionally, access to transportation has been a major barrier for both niagara falls and lockport residents. Additionally, niagara county was designated by the federal government as a high intensity drug trafficking area (HIDTA), implicating that 100% of the county has been greatly impacted by substance use disorder (SUD). According to the 2021 NYS opioid annual report, niagara county ranked in the top 10 counties in all of NYS with the highest crude rate for opioid burden at 296.2 (per 100,000). According to HIDTA data, the three cities in niagara county, niagara falls, lockport, and north tonawanda, have the highest concentrations of opioid-related overdoses (498 out of 746, or 66.8 percent) and related fatalities (53 out of 69, or 76.8 percent). NCI is requesting a total of $1,875,000 from samhsa's strategic prevention framework grant that will span over the course of five years. This implementation will help to reduce the onset and progression of substance misuse and its related problems by supporting the development and delivery of community-based substance misuse prevention and mental health promotion services. This project will focus on niagara county residents with a special focus on the city of niagara falls. By the conclusion of year one, the initiative will have established and built relationships within the city of niagara falls to meet collective outcomes, including the formation of a youth focused community coalition. NCI will have reduced youth substance use throughout the county by implementing evidence-based programs with a specific focus on alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana. School-based survey results collected will demonstrate this decline in early initiation of substance use. To combat the stigma surrounding substance use and mental health, this project will have promoted programs aimed at mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being to community members across the lifespan. This project will include an FTE prevention specialist whose sole purpose will be to offer information, presentations, and programming and throughout the county that will work towards achieving these outcomes. NCI will report positive outcomes in reducing early initiation of drug use, perceived risk of drug use, availability of alcohol and other drugs and favorable attitudes toward drug use by youth. Outcomes will also indicate an improvement of social emotional competency, improvement of perception of harm regarding violence and an improvement in behavior, performance, and relationships with youth.