November 1, 2019 -- First Selectman Vicki Tesoro is celebrating the news announced Wednesday, October 30, 2019 that TPAUD, Trumbull’s Prevention Partnership, has received a five-year federal Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grant from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “This grant funding will inject a further $625,000 in prevention funding into Trumbull, which is good for our families and our town. This funding will allow TPAUD to build on our recent successes in reducing underage drinking, and enable us to address emerging challenges such as opioids, vaping, and mental health issues," said Tesoro.
TPAUD, a community prevention coalition formed in 2006, has led Trumbull’s efforts to reduce youth substance abuse, focusing its work on preventing underage drinking, vaping, marijuana use, and prescription drug misuse. TPAUD members include parents, community members, school staff, elected officials, police, EMS, public health experts, mental health and substance abuse counselors, business owners, faith leaders, and youth. Prevention efforts focus on youth and parent education, community outreach and partnership-building, and law enforcement. Through biennial surveys, TPAUD has seen a dramatic drop in underage drinking and binge drinking, as well as decreases in youth marijuana use in town. To fund its work, TPAUD has procured more than $1.8 million in state and federal grants since 2006.
The DFC Program provides grants to community coalitions to strengthen the infrastructure among local partners to create and sustain a reduction in local youth substance use. Recognizing that local problems need local solutions, DFC-funded coalitions engage multiple sectors of the community and employ a variety of environmental strategies to address local substance use problems.
“Substance abuse prevention requires local partners to be impactful and effective. We are proud of the coalition we have built in Trumbull, and are excited that our work will continue with this Drug-Free Communities grant funding. Our goal is a safe and healthy community - we welcome Trumbull residents to join our efforts,” said Melissa McGarry, TPAUD Project Director. Anyone who would like to get involved can email TPAUD at tpaud@trumbullps.org.