Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Substance Prevention topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Nexus Coalition updates council on drug-prevention, naloxone trainings and youth diversion
Summary
Nexus Coalition for Drug Prevention presented education and diversion program results to the council, reporting large participation numbers, naloxone distribution, and local partnerships; staff asked about age groups and vaping trends.
Vicky Solomon, executive director of Nexus Coalition for Drug Prevention, briefed the Show Low City Council on the nonprofit’s prevention, education and diversion activities across Navajo County.
Solomon said the coalition’s two main goals are to reduce substance use and increase resiliency and connection among parents and caregivers, and to strengthen collaboration among community organizations. "The 2 main reasons why we exist is reduce substance use and increase resiliency and connection among the parents and caregivers," she said.
She reported program statistics from an earlier grant year (2223 data): about 13,000 adults and 13,000 youth participated in education trainings, roughly 6,800 activities were conducted, and Nexus distributed 986 doses of naloxone with accompanying training. Solomon also cited about 69,000 pieces of educational material distributed.
Local highlights included a teen court/diversion program that ran 57 classes with about 234 youth participating, and a junior leadership academy running multiweek sessions in White River, Blue Ridge and Snowflake. Solomon named program leads Britney Quintanilla, Stormy Rawlings and Cheyenne Layton. She said the diversion program accepts referrals from family members, school principals and others.
During council questions, members asked about age groups of concern. Solomon said prevention focuses on upper elementary grades, with formal education beginning in third grade and primary prevention emphasis on fourth and fifth grades; she added the coalition has seen vaping begin as early as 8 years old. "Our focus in primary prevention is the fourth grade, fifth grade... because if we can get to them before they actually start using, it's better," she said.
Solomon described mental-health and resiliency work, a weekly Zoom adult training focused on families of people with addictions, partnerships with schools and a vetting process for telehealth providers listed on the coalition’s website. She also noted Nexus was selected to participate in the Giving Machine event in Show Low.
Councilmembers thanked Solomon and the Nexus team for their work and encouraged continued outreach.
No council action was required on the presentation.
