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County hears CPWI overview as student-support staff warn of heavy caseloads and funding constraints
Summary
Wallowa County commissioners received a presentation on the Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative (CPWI) on June 2, 2026. Presenters described CPWI's prevention model, data sources and local coalition work, and a student assistance professional said she is serving about 130 students though the role is intended for roughly 50, raising capacity concerns.
Maddie Kapoichis, the Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative (CPWI) specialist for Walla Walla, told the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners on June 2 that CPWI aims to prevent youth substance use by strengthening protective factors and reducing risk factors through school- and community-based programs.
"The main goal of CPWI is to improve community health and wellness by preventing and reducing youth substance use and related risk factors and increasing protective factors," Kapoichis said during a presentation from the Department of Community Health.
Kapoichis outlined CPWI's approach: county and city coalitions develop two-year strategic plans guided by data from the Healthy Youth Survey (administered in schools every two years) and a separate adult community survey. The surveys are used to compare youth-reported experiences with adult perceptions and to identify targeted policies and programs.
Sam Jackall, Human Services Manager, described the program structure and local rollout. He said CPWI funding is routed through the state Health Care Authority and includes federal dollars from SAMHSA, and that CPWI communities do not use local funds for the program. "This is all state and federal," Jackall said.
Ashley O'Melo, a student assistance professional at Walla Walla High School employed by Educational Service District 123, explained the student-assistance role and how students enter services by self-referral or staff referral. O'Melo said the role is intended to carry about 50 students across a school year but that she is currently operating with a caseload of roughly 130. "I am supposed to have 50 students on my caseload for the whole year. I'm currently operating at 130," she said.
Commissioners asked whether the site-based model (a student assistance professional stationed at a single school) leaves gaps for other schools. Commissioner Clayton, identifying himself as a parent, said he was concerned about stigma from labeling students as "at risk." "I'm a little bit uncomfortable with, you know, identifying kids as... labeling or introducing a stigma," Clayton said, and asked what the county can do to provide earlier, universal supports and parent education.
Presenters described outreach and parent-education strategies already under way or being piloted, including an online, self-paced parenting program called Parenting Wisely and a "Hidden in Plain Sight" training that visually demonstrates how substances may appear in a teen’s room. Kapoichis said the county is experimenting with those tools and working to boost engagement via school communication channels; she said the school district's week-in-review helped increase sign-ups for Parenting Wisely.
Speakers also discussed coalition activity in College Place and Walla Walla, lock-box funding for drug take-back events and plans for a youth-led coalition to amplify student voice in prevention planning. Jackall said the Health Care Authority has seen staffing attrition but, at present, communities have not lost CPWI funding.
The commissioners thanked the presenters; no formal action was taken on CPWI at the meeting.
