Fountain Hills youth coalition outlines use of opioid settlement funds; aims to expand naloxone, safe-home kits and peer leadership

Fountain Hills — The Fountain Hills Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition presented its first-year results Wednesday on how the town’s opioid settlement funds have been used to support prevention, education and youth leadership programs.

Tammy Bell, the coalition’s executive director, said the coalition has received $135,346 in settlement money to date and that $36,582 had been spent on five strategies: targeted advertising, community partnerships, youth programs and leadership training, high-risk student messaging and family engagement. She and program manager Elizabeth Waters emphasized fentanyl awareness as a primary focus.

Waters described "Protect Our Game," a program aimed at student athletes and families. The initiative distributed 105 safe-home kits (each including naloxone, a lockable pill container and resource materials) and placed prevention messages at sporting events. The coalition’s media campaign, she said, recorded more than 364,000 impressions on signs and social platforms.

The coalition also launched the Above That Club, a peer-led prevention group for middle- and high-school students. Two student leaders, Peyton Joakins and Maya Ruiz, addressed the council: Ruiz described losing her father to fentanyl and urged peers and adults to talk about counterfeit pills and vaping.

Bell said the coalition’s five-year plan seeks to expand safe-home kit distribution to 300 households annually by 2030, train local businesses and trusted adults in naloxone use and increase student perception of prescription misuse risk. The coalition estimated it would need about $63,000 annually to sustain the five-year plan.

Council members praised the work and asked for clarification on staffing. Bell said salaries have been covered previously by a federal Drug-Free Communities grant; future staffing costs are included in the five-year plan, which contemplates using some settlement funds for staff development.

Why it matters: Local prevention work aims to reduce youth exposure to counterfeit fentanyl pills and to strengthen community supports. The coalition’s plans include scaled distribution of naloxone and peer-education programs designed to change norms around substance use.