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County to use opioid funds to train facilitators for family-based prevention program
Summary
Extension staff asked the Jefferson County supervisors to fund training for a seven‑week, family‑based substance‑use prevention program for youth ages 10–14. The board approved a $10,000 allocation from opioid funds to cover training; program delivery costs will be requested later.
The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors approved using opioid-settlement funds to train facilitators for a research-based, seven‑session family substance‑use prevention program that targets youth ages 10–14.
Courtney Burkhalter and Abby Damon from the extension office described the program (developed by Iowa State), which runs seven weekly, two-hour sessions in which parents and youth spend the first hour separately and the second hour together. They said the program is intended for all families, not only high‑risk households, and that a trained facilitator team of three can run a class for 10–12 families.
Burkhalter told the board the program returns community benefits and cited a widely used cost‑benefit figure during the presentation: "For every dollar spent on this program, $9.60 comes back to the community" in avoided costs such as jail time, lost work, and treatment, as described in the training materials. Extension staff said they have already trained two local facilitators and the school has trained one staff member; they requested roughly $9,630–$10,000 to pay for training three additional facilitators and about $5,000 later to cover meals and other delivery costs for participants.
A supervisor moved to allocate $10,000 from opioid funds to cover facilitator training; the motion carried by voice vote. Board members asked extension staff to return with participation numbers and follow-up reporting after the initial offering.
The program will be offered free to participating families, and extension staff said the school partner has offered a vehicle to provide limited transportation; staff said they can also offer gas cards and reimbursements if broader transportation is needed. Extension staff noted that the training is a one‑time cost and future program runs would primarily require funds for meals and incidental participant supports. The board approved the training allocation; no roll-call vote with named tallies appears in the transcript.
