Last year, Childhood Protective Services (CPS) reported the rate of intakes for drug-related causes up by 16 percent from 2015 in the State of Washington. During this same period of time, it was reported that state hospitals recorded a steady increase in substance-exposed newborns.
With a focus on developing an integrated approach to implementing evidence-based substance use and prevention curriculum in grades 6 through 9, the MVSD Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), inclusive of local law enforcement representatives, Room One staff, members of the Winthrop Kiwanis, parents, and staff have been awarded a $10,000 grant from the North Central Accountable for Community Health to select and pilot a substance abuse and prevention curriculum.
More specifically, with a goal that participating students will gain knowledge about the physical, social, emotional, and behavioral effects of opioid addiction, substance abuse and avoidance strategies, the grant will fund the coordination of data collection, curriculum review and selection process, and the implementation and evaluation of a curriculum.
Lead by Executive Director, Linda Evans Parlette (former senator), the mission of the North Central Accountable Community of Health (NCACH) is to improve the health of the North Central region’s communities and the people who live in them, improve health care access, quality, and the experience of care, and lower per capita health care costs in the North Central region which includes Chelan, Douglas, Grant and Okanogan counties (the “North Central Regional Service Area”).