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County prevention group outlines 'Impact' school specialist program to Port Jervis board
Summary
The Alcohol Drug Awareness Council of Orange County (ADAC) presented its Impact prevention program to the Port Jervis Board of Education, introduced the district's prevention specialist Denise Hulse and provided participation and outreach numbers since March 2024.
Cynthia Alardi, prevention supervisor for the Alcohol Drug Awareness Council of Orange County, told the Port Jervis Board of Education on Oct. 14 that ADAC's "Impact" program places a prevention specialist in each interested school district to deliver evidence-based substance-use prevention and early-intervention services.
The program, funded in part by opioid settlement money routed through the state and county, began hiring specialists in January 2024. Denise Hulse is the district's Impact prevention specialist; Alardi introduced Hulse and said the program aims to use curricula such as Too Good for Drugs and Violence and Teen Intervene to teach skills from goal-setting to refusal strategies.
Alardi described Impact as a district-specific prevention model developed over about a decade and launched at scale when funding became available in 2023. She said ADAC hired six prevention specialists in January 2024 (Goshen, Highland Falls, Monroe-Woodbury, Pine Bush, Cornwall/Court and Valley Central) and later added Middletown; Port Jervis's specialist was placed at the district in January.
Hulse, a Port Jervis native and volunteer-turned-staff member with ADAC, outlined her school activities and outreach. She said ADAC began keeping data in March 2024 and reported: 3,691 participants in alcohol, tobacco and other-drug or mental-health presentations; 139 information-awareness tabling events reaching almost 11,000 participants; and 492 classes delivered in the district since March 2024, reaching 6,683 students.
Hulse described Teen Intervene, a three-session SBIRT (screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment) program for adolescents 12 to 19 identified with mild to moderate substance use. She said the program is confidential except when mandated reporting is required for risk of harm.
Board members thanked ADAC and Hulse; no formal board action was taken on the presentation.
The board packet included brochures and program materials from ADAC.
