Community based coalition enhancement grant to address methamphetamine and prescription drug misuse among youth age 12- 18. - the raymond coalition for youth (rcfy) is located in raymond, NH, a…

Community based coalition enhancement grant to address methamphetamine and prescription drug misuse among youth age 12- 18. - the raymond coalition for youth (rcfy) is located in raymond, NH, a sprawling ruralcommunity of 30 square miles in southeastern rockingham county. The population of 10,451 IS93.9% white, non-hispanic and 23.2% of the population is age 19 years or younger. US census, 2019THE town is primarily working families with the per-capita income $34,132, a fourth lower thanthe county average of $47,222. Families typically make too much to be eligible for publicassistance and too little to adequately provide for their children?s needs. 27% of our children areenrolled in the free/reduced lunch program NH DOE, 2019 (higher than the state average) and 10% ofour population live in poverty. Most, 85%, work out of town, commuting about forty minuteseach way. This limits quality family time and increases stress on parents and children alike. In the past few years there has been a real estate boom resulting in expensive homes being builtby southern new englanders where the cost of living is much higher. This has created asocioeconomic imbalance resulting in those who have and have not. Food insecurity and limitedaccess to affordable housing are on the increase. Our public welfare director, and local churchesare seeing increases in cases of families living in cars and tents. This has increased during thepandemic. Substance misuse however does not discriminate between the two economic sectors. Our education levels are modest, 8% do not have high school diplomas or a GED, and only 4%have any graduate education, making upward mobility or career advancement challenging. NH.GOV,2019 raymond has three schools, with an enrollment of 494 students in primary school, 380 inmiddle school and 368 in high school. There are some limited recreation opportunities for youthhere?ball fields, outdoor tennis and one basketball court, and areas for fishing and hiking?butlarge numbers of young people report that they feel isolated and bored. There are no indoor areasin town where they can congregate in positive ways except for one bowling alley that servesalcohol and recently had a drug overdose during a youth event in the bathroom.raymond falls within the new england federally designated high intensity drug traffickingarea. Easily accessed by the busiest state highway that connects NH?s two interstates to thesurrounding states of vermont, maine, and massachusetts, access to drugs is easy. IT is 15MINUTES to manchester and 25 minutes to nashua, the largest NH cities with the highest andsecond highest NH opioid usage and death rates. NH dhhs, 2018 our biggest current concern is withmethamphetamines. The DEA, who we work closely with, tells US meth is now coming directlyinto NH from mexico, is disguised as pills, is very easy to get and much cheaper than heroin.parents are desensitized to substance misuse due to multigenerational use, a community that iscomplacent about the issue and an insurgence of methamphetamines coming up from mexicoallowing for easy accessibility are our biggest challenges.rcfy will continue to work with our partners and engage our youth in raising awareness topeers and families about the dangers and risks associated with prescription drug misuse and thethreat of methamphetamines. We will work with our law enforcement and health care partners toreduce access to these pills. We will work with the schools to provide information andawareness, while offering positive youth opportunities which will increase the perception ofharm and lower teen rates of lifetime and regular use.