The Tri-Town Youth Service (TTYS) Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition invited Angela Duhaime, a specialist with the regional behavioral health organization Southeastern Regional Action Council, to host a Sept. 20 forum to discuss ways to fine tune the district’s efforts to prevent youth drug use and at-risk behaviors.

Prevention includes a wide range of topics that involve every member of the community working together for the greater good, Duhaime said, and sometimes the things that we do today won’t have immediate effects, but ultimately they will strengthen and protect our youth moving forward.

“We should try to look at things through a lens of promoting the positive,” Duhaime said. “We need to constantly be casting the web of prevention until it sticks. It may be slow going, but as a community, we need to keep at it.

“Doing this work is only one piece of the puzzle,” she continued. “Prevention is a multi-tiered effort that needs to happen comprehensively in the community to be successful.”

The coalition group included TTYS Executive Director Allison Abramson, who chairs the Tri-Town Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (SAPC); TTYS Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Buckley; Essex Park & Recreation Director MaryEllen Barnes; Sherry Carlson, a public health nurse for the Connecticut River Area Health District; Valley Regional High School social worker Brad Pitman; Regional PTO member Sarah Waterhouse; and Rob Bibbiani, a recovery coach and local parent.

Duhaime asked the coalition about what programs are currently in place to help with preventing drug use.

Barnes explained that the Essex Park & Recreation Department has expanded the number and variety of programs offered in an effort to help keep kids busy and engaged in after school and summer programs.

Pitman pointed out the TTYS freshman transition event held each year at Camp Hazen in Chester. This event, he explained, helps students transition into the high school atmosphere, making it easier and less stressful during a critical time.

In addition, Pitman also noted several other school district programs that target teaching resilience and prevention strategies for students including guest speakers and anti-drug programs.

Duhaime tasked the coalition to identify if boys or girls are at greater risk of at-risk behavior locally and to identify the primary risks that need to be prevented right now. Vaping (electronic cigarette use) was brought up by the group as a growing issue with the community’s youth and one of the main behaviors the coalition will spotlight during the upcoming year.

Another is reinforcing strategies of resiliency for teens and pre-teens so that they have the tools and the ability to recover after setbacks and they learn self-control over risk-taking behaviors.

Duhaime emphasized the importance of involving the larger community in substance abuse prevention efforts. The SAPC meets five times per school year at the TTYS offices, 56 High Street, Deep River. For more information, visit tritownys.org or call 860-526-3600 for the next meeting date.