Orting youth drug and alcohol prevention program ended 7 years ago. ‘The need is back’
Orting is rebooting a coalition meant to keep young people from doing drugs and alcohol that was shelved about seven years ago.
The local school district received a two-year grant from the state to help with prevention programs and services for local youth.
The grant totals $220,000 and came from the Washington State Health Care Authority’s Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery. The grant will cover funding for training and prevention services in the school district and the community.
The school district received the grant before summer 2021, Christopher Willis, executive director for the school district’s Student Support Services, said. The first wave of the grant, $90,000, went toward Recovery Café Orting Valley.
Recovery Café at 113 Varner Ave. SE is “a place of healing,” executive director Rena Thompson said. It offers support services for those who may be facing mental health, substance abuse and other life challenges, she said.
Support services offered at Recovery Café include peer recovery coaching as well as educational classes and workshops. It is a place where people can come together, Thompson said. They serve people age 13 and up.
Recovery Café has plans to start a youth and young adult program to address mental health and substance use, Thompson said. With the program, they will offer mental health support assessments, referrals and case management services. They hope to finalize plans for that program by December.
“Being able to provide services like this is important,” Thompson said.
In addition to the grant, the school district also received a student assistance provider from the Puget Sound Educational Service District, Willis said. The provider focuses on drug and alcohol abuse prevention within the local middle and high schools.
Prior funding ended
The city used to have a coalition called Orting Standing Together on Prevention, Willis said. OSTOP was geared toward drug and alcohol abuse prevention among local youth. It was state-funded, but funding for the coalition ended in 2014.
OSTOP did drug and alcohol abuse prevention work for youth, which is similar to the work the city plans on doing now, Thompson wrote in an email.
“The data didn’t substantiate the need for the community,” Willis said. “The need came up again, and that came up through our Healthy Youth Survey.”
The survey, which was given to participating schools, went to students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grade. Willis said the most recent survey results show a lot of students had easy access to substances like e-cigarettes, prescription drugs and marijuana.
In Pierce County, survey results show a 2 percent increase among sixth-graders who use vapor products from 2016 to 2018. There was a 7 percent increase among eighth-graders, 9 percent increase among 10th-graders and 12 percent increase among 12th-graders.
“Overall there was a favorable attitude towards their use,” Willis said.
The last time the survey was distributed was in 2018, Willis said. A survey was supposed to go out in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The school district put out another survey in October and is expecting to receive survey results next March.
The rest of the $220,000 grant will go toward drug and alcohol abuse prevention programs and services the coalition will plan for the youth and community within the coming year, Willis said.
Superintendent Edward Hatzenbeler said obtaining the grant helps remove barriers some students and families are facing. Having access to local resources as opposed to driving miles on end to get help is “huge,” he said.
