Michigan health department awards $3.75M in opioid settlement funding for youth substance use prevention

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is announcing $3.75 million in grant funds for youth substance use prevention programs across the state.

Five of the twelve organizations receiving these opioid settlement-funded grants are located in Southeast Michigan. Organizations like the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of the Greater Detroit Area and The Youth Connection earned $375,000, which will help them build on their existing prevention programs.

"They have clinics for them, they get to play basketball, but they have to agree to attend education classes," said NCADD Greater Detroit president and CEO Benjamin A. Jones.

The C.O.A.C.H. program at the NCADD of the Greater Detroit Area allows boys between 11 and 14 to work on their game while staying drug-free. They hope to expand this program to girls with the additional funding.

"I understand the attraction of sports and the benefits of coupling athletic activity with prevention activity," Jones said.

The Youth Connection's Strengthening Families Program in Detroit not only educates kids, but also their biggest influences, including parents. They hope to expand those services with their grant dollars.

"The purpose of the grant also is to use our families, and the parents, the caregivers, and community folks as ways in which they can help promote prevention," said The Youth Connection president and CEO Grenae Dudley. 

Dudley says the grant funding also helps prevention methods keep up with new pressures facing our youth.

"Vapes are a real challenge, especially in our schools and among our youth, and one of the things that they're vaping is nicotine," she said.

Dudley says preventing youth marijuana use in a state where it's legal for those over 21 years old is also a new challenge.

MDHHS explains why early prevention is so important.

"Early initiation of use is also linked to a higher likelihood of developing a substance use disorder, so if we can delay that early initiation of use until at least 21 years old, then that decreases the risk," said Lisa Coleman. MDHHS Substance Use Prevention and Treatment section manager.

Other Metro Detroit programs that earned grants include Mariners Inn ($368,690), Oakwood Healthcare Inc. ($168,236) and Piast Institute ($125,000)

Dudley says parents can take prevention into their own hands by joining the drug-free coalition nearest to them.