Norwich ― A new federal grant will help to bolster youth-focused opioid prevention programs in eastern Connecticut.

The $739,322 grant was awarded to the Governor’s Prevention Partnership, a group that builds and offers youth prevention programs across the state that are focused on substance misuse and underage drinking. The money will be used to develop and coordinate prevention and intervention programs and curriculum for school-age youth and their families impacted by the opioid epidemic. The focus is on New London County where the funds also will benefit existing youth and family programs in and outside of local schools.

Kelly Juleson, the co-president of the The Governor's Prevention Partnership visited with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, at his office in Norwich on Thursday for a discussion of the impacts of the grant. Courtney and U.S. senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy jointly wrote a letter in support of the the group’s competitive grant application.

The Governor’s Prevention Partnership already has established relationships with groups such as the Overdose Action Team, led by Ledge Light Health District, and the Groton Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention.

“There’s so many tremendous partners locally that are doing the work. We’re not here take over any of that. We’re just hoping to enhance, streamline and amplify the work being done,” Deborah Lake, the director of planning and implementation for the Governors Prevention Partnership, said.

While it’s not typical for younger children to have opioid abuse problems, they are often the ones impacted by use in the community and among family and friends, Lake said. Prevention programs help to give them tools of how to deal with those impacts, she said.

The work by the organization also goes beyond opioids and touches on providing education about topics such as positive decision making and refusal skills. Training is often provided to peer mentors who go on to share what they’ve learned with other youth.

Following the death of a 13-year-old middle school student in Hartford earlier this year from a fentanyl-related overdose, much of the focus has been on the availability of naloxone, the opioid reversal drug also known as Narcan, Juleson said.

“Certainly as an organization we’re really supportive of that but at that point are we too late,” Juleson said.

In concert with the better access to Narcan, Juleson said investments also need to go to the prevention side of public education. Some parents, she admits, may be resistant to prevention efforts aimed at younger kids because of the idea the information is “putting the idea in our child’s head.”

But studies have shown, she said, that early conversations are critical to preventing substance abuse later on in life.

The grant for the Governor’s Prevention Partnership was one of 19 awarded nationwide, totaling $9 million, from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program.

Implementation of the programs associated with the grant are expected to start early next year.

G.smith@theday.com