Project champion (CO-occurring health advancement through mobilized partnerships, involving outreach and networking) is a collaboration between the child health and development institute and three…

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc. $2.364 million on September 30, 2025, under the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.492).

Project Champion, a collaboration between the Child Health and Development Institute and three local health departments—Ledge Light Health District, Bristol-Burlington Health District, and Stamford Health Department—will deliver substance use prevention services focused on underage drinking, cannabis, and opioids to 358,521 residents across these communities, with youth-tailored programming for 67,752 youth.

The project pursues three primary goals: community infrastructure and capacity building, localized training and lifespan service provision, and public health policy advocacy to strengthen prevention-focused social and cultural norms. Deliverables include developing and maintaining at least ten active community partnerships across diverse sectors, distributing educational materials at more than twenty-five community events, and conducting localized social media campaigns producing more than one hundred posts. The project will establish three localized advisory committees including youth to inform grant activities, and youth and adults from the local health department catchment areas will provide multi-level input into project operations.

Performance of work occurs in Farmington, Connecticut. The period of performance runs from September 30, 2025, through September 29, 2030. The funding is classified as a Project Grant and represents assistance funding.

Project champion (CO-occurring health advancement through mobilized partnerships, involving outreach and networking) is a collaboration between the child health and development institute and three local health departments/districts (LHDS). This project will provide effective substance use prevention services focused on underage drinking, cannabis, and opioids to residents of the communities served by these LHDS. Specifically, project champion will provide prevention services to the 358,521 residents served by the ledge light health district, bristol-burlington health district, and stamford health department, including youth-tailored programming for the 67,752 youth in these communities. Of the residents served in these communities, the majority report being female (50.4%) and white (71%). Approximately 10% of residents live in poverty, with our LHDS being part of planning regions that are considered particularly vulnerable based on the social vulnerability index. The primary goals of project champion focus on: (1) community infrastructure and capacity building, (2) localized training and lifespan service provision, and (3) public health policy advocacy to strengthen prevention-focused social/cultural norms. As part of our community infrastructure and capacity building goal, we will develop and maintain at least 10 active, community partnerships across diverse sectors and stakeholders to strengthen localized partnerships and resource sharing. We will also seek to educate the community on substance use and CO-occurring mental health concerns by distributing educational materials at more than 25 community events and through localized social media campaigns that will produce more than 100 posts by the end of the grant. Youth and adults from LHD catchment areas will provide multi-level input into grant activities. Given project champion's youth-focused programming, we will establish three localized advisory committees that will include youth to inform the project's work and an annual youth-focused summit on substance use prevention and CO-occurring mental health concerns that will have at least 25 youth in attendance each year. Additionally, project champion activities will be informed by a statewide workgroup, a community needs assessment, community surveys, and continuous quality improvement surveys and focus groups. As part of our localized training and service provision goal, project champion will provide training on three evidence-based practices (sbirt, wraparound services, and naloxone distribution) and one promising practice (the coda curriculum). By the end of the grant, at least 150 LHD staff/community residents will be trained in sbirt, 30 staff will be trained in wraparound services, 100 LHD staff/community residents will be trained in naloxone, and 375 LHD staff/community residents will be trained in the coda curriculum. As a result, by the end of the grant at least 3,000 residents will be screened for substance use, mental health, and social determinants of health; 300 families will receive care coordination; and naloxone will be administered in community-settings to decrease fatal opioid overdose rates by 10%. For social impact, project champion's public health policy advocacy goals include monitoring and identifying at least five state- and municipal-level policy priorities that promote or inhibit substance use and CO-occurring mental health concern prevention each year. Further, we will advocate for at least three youth substance use prevention or CO-occurring disorder awareness policy changes at the state- or municipal-levels by the end of the grant.