Stafford and ellington expanding delivery of prevention (seed) - the village for families & children's stafford and ellington expanding delivery of prevention (seed) will strengthen the capacities…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded The Village for Families & Children, Inc. $1.489 million under the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Projects of Regional and National Significance program on September 30, 2025, to implement the Stafford and Ellington Expanding Delivery of Prevention (SEED) initiative.

SEED strengthens the capacities of two local prevention coalitions in suburban and rural north-central Connecticut and reduces alcohol and cannabis use among youth in grades 6–12. Over five years, the program will directly serve 4,186 youth ages 11–18 and indirectly impact 2,095 family and community members; annually it will reach 1,256 youth, families, and community members through evidence-based prevention strategies. The recipient will assess current coalition capacity; develop data-informed action plans to increase community engagement and expand membership; conduct coalition membership and partnership inventories; design and launch messaging campaigns to increase awareness of youth substance use; design and initiate an eighth-grade transition program in each community that includes a youth-to-coalition membership pipeline component; and conduct needs assessments to inform a detailed implementation plan.

Performance occurs in Hartford, Connecticut, with the period running through September 29, 2030. The SEED program serves Stafford (population 11,472, median household income $92,292) and Ellington (population 16,339, median household income $124,495), adjacent communities with combined poverty rates near 6 percent. Stafford contains a significant proportion of residents age 60 or older with many grandparent-headed households; multigenerational households increased 21 percent there between 2010 and 2020.

Stafford and ellington expanding delivery of prevention (seed) - the village for families & children's stafford and ellington expanding delivery of prevention (seed) will strengthen the capacities of two local prevention coalitions in an area of suburban and rural connecticut. Over 5 years, seed will directly impact 4,186 youth ages 11-18 and will indirectly impact 2,095 family and community members. Annually, seed will serve 1,256 youth, families, and community members with evidence-based prevention strategies. Stafford and ellington are adjacent communities in north central connecticut and have a combined population of 27,811 residents, 16,339 and 11,472 respectively. Ellington's median household income is $124, 495 while stafford's is $92,292. Both communities have a poverty rate of about 6%. A significant portion of stafford's population is 60 or older and there are many grandparent-headed households. According to census data, the percentage of multigenerational households in stafford has increased 21% from 2010 to 2020. The goals of seed are: 1) strengthen the coalition structure, sector representation, and prevention capacities in ellington and stafford, CT and 2) reduce and prevent youth alcohol and cannabis use for those in grades 6-12. Seed's objectives are to: 1) assess current capacity of coalitions; 2) develop data-informed action plans to increase community engagement and expand coalition membership; 3) conduct coalition membership and partnership inventory and develop strategies to increase membership and coalition readiness; 4) design and launch messaging and campaigns aimed at increasing community awareness of youth substance use and coalitions in each community; 5) design and initiate an 8TH grade transition program in each community that includes a youth-to-coalition membership "pipeline component; 6) utilize capacity assessment and partnership inventory outcomes to inform development of a detailed implementation plan; 7) conduct a needs assessment aimed at engaging youth and adults from each community, to confirm the identified priority youth substances to be addressed and establish a plan to prioritize and address associated risk and protective factors, consumption and consequence variables; 8) identify evidence-based, evidence-informed and community-defined prevention strategies that are aligned with priority youth substance consumption, identified risk factors and/or related consequences to be included in implementation plan; 9) develop and deploy community-driven implementation plan that aims to reduce and prevent youth use of alcohol and cannabis; and 10) develop an evaluation plan that will assess process, capacity and substance use short and long-term outcomes. Strategies will include events teaching 8TH-grade students about positive social norms, resistance skills and positive ways to get involved in middle and high schools; promoting existing mental health resources; conducting retail compliance checks to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors; implementation of a culturally appropriate multi-modal media campaign targeting teens and parents related to underage drinking and cannabis use; and other as determined by the strategic planning efforts in year one.