United Health Foundation awarded $2.35 million in grants to
The Governor's Prevention Partnership and The Village For Families &
Children, in part to address drug use among teens, officials said
Tuesday.
"Heroin is cheap," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at an event announcing the grants. He added that a growing number of young people are dying amid this continued opioid crisis. "This is a gigantic problem for us."
Hartford was one of three cities – along with Milwaukee and Houston – to be the focus of grants, foundation officials said.
"We know that substance abuse and addiction are destroying thousands of lives. It's not just the 100s of lives that are lost to addiction, but its the many thousands of lives that are damaged and destroyed.
Families that are suffering in every community across the state," Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said. "This is a public health crisis that is effecting everyone in our state."
The Governor's Prevention Partnership will use the grant to create an awareness and outreach program focused on drug abuse by teens, officials said, along with a program that will identify high-risk young adults and refer them to support.
"When I first started, we were really worried about young people starting smoking, believe it or not.
That was 20 short years ago," Jill Spineti, president and CEO of The Governor's Prevention Parternship said. "Since then the ante kept getting more serious. We were working on underage drinking, marijuana use and now the heroin epidemic. The crisis is there."
The Village For Families & Children will integrate behavioral health and primary care services at two pediatric practices, one in East Hartford and the other in West Hartford, officials said in announcing the grant.
"We have arbitrarily separated those issues, but it's time to bring them together," Galo A. Rodriguez, the president and CEO of The Village said.
"Heroin is cheap," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said at an event announcing the grants. He added that a growing number of young people are dying amid this continued opioid crisis. "This is a gigantic problem for us."
Hartford was one of three cities – along with Milwaukee and Houston – to be the focus of grants, foundation officials said.
"We know that substance abuse and addiction are destroying thousands of lives. It's not just the 100s of lives that are lost to addiction, but its the many thousands of lives that are damaged and destroyed.
Families that are suffering in every community across the state," Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said. "This is a public health crisis that is effecting everyone in our state."
The Governor's Prevention Partnership will use the grant to create an awareness and outreach program focused on drug abuse by teens, officials said, along with a program that will identify high-risk young adults and refer them to support.
"When I first started, we were really worried about young people starting smoking, believe it or not.
That was 20 short years ago," Jill Spineti, president and CEO of The Governor's Prevention Parternship said. "Since then the ante kept getting more serious. We were working on underage drinking, marijuana use and now the heroin epidemic. The crisis is there."
The Village For Families & Children will integrate behavioral health and primary care services at two pediatric practices, one in East Hartford and the other in West Hartford, officials said in announcing the grant.
"We have arbitrarily separated those issues, but it's time to bring them together," Galo A. Rodriguez, the president and CEO of The Village said.
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