Himes Talks Drug Prevention with Grant Recipients: Kids in Crisis and The Norwalk Partnership

By: greenwichfreepress | October 20, 2024

US Congressman Jim Himes who represents Connecticut’s 4th Congressional district, met with federal grant recipients, Greenwich based Kids in Crisis (the fiduciary for the Greenwich Together coalition) and The Norwalk Partnership on Thursday.

The grant is a mouthful – CDC’s Office of National Drug Prevention Policy, Drug-Free Communities Support Program – but is highly prized by recipients.

Congressman Himes described substance use and misuse as a devastating problem, noting that the CDC estimated last year there were 107,000 fatal overdoses in the country.

“This is a very, very diverse district, and addiction is a problem that hits the most challenged communities in our urban centers, as well as our wealthiest communities. It spares no one,” Himes added.

“In this part of Connecticut, we send a lot of money down to Washington, DC, so I think it’s important to highlight those moments when it comes back to us,” Himes said of the federal funding to address the addiction and overdose crisis locally.

“This is is a problem that will not be solved by any one non-profit. It will not be solved in a purely law enforcement context. It gets solved because we bring the people in this room together. We fund them, and they do their great work,” Congressman Himes said at Norwalk Library.

The amount of the grant is $625,000, which breaks down to $125,000 per year for five years. The purpose of the grant is to continue ongoing work to prevent substance misuse and promote mental wellness in youth and young adults.

Norwalk Mayor Rilling said even prior to Covid, drug use and abuse among youth had been on the rise.

“We want to do everything we can to put programs in place that will help them avoid the drug scene,” he said, later adding, “We can’t arrest our way out of this.”

Attending the event law enforcement leadership from both Norwalk and Greenwich, Chief James Walsh and Deputy Chief Terrence Blake, and Greenwich Police captain John Slusarz, State Representative Dominique Johnson (D-143), members of Norwalk’s  (D-143) Common Council  and, Ginger and Larry Katz of Courage to Speak, Kids in Crisis’s executive director Shari Shapiro and assistant director of outreach and prevention services at the Greenwich-based Kids In Crisis Ellen Brezovsky, who are members of Greenwich Together, as well as Greenwich Commissioner of Human Services, Demetria Nelson who co-chairs Greenwich Together with Chief Jim Heavey.

US Congressman in Connecticut’s 4th district Jim Himes had a discussion about prevention with  grant recipients at Norwalk Library. Oct 17, 2024 Photo: Leslie Yager

Ellen Brezovsky from Kids in Crisis said it was difficult to get people to attend events in person, but following the death this summer of a 16-year-old Greenwich boy from fentanyl poisoning, 44 parents recently attended a Narcan training session.

Prevention Director for The Norwalk Partnership, Margaret Watt, put the grant in context.

“Prevention is upstream. We’re all looking to fight to address the opioid crisis. It’s about protecting our youth. And you don’t do that by telling people, ‘Drugs are bad, don’t do drugs.’ You do that by addressing underlying mental health issues and by addressing the most vulnerable populations,” Watt said.

“In Norwalk, our surveys let us see the high level of depression, the high level of suicidality, the risk factors in our kids who identify as LGBTQ, and in other marginalized populations like our Hispanic and Black populations, students who have IEPs, and the the SoNo zip code.”

“Kids today aren’t using substances that much, but they are definitely struggling with their mental health,” Watt continued. “You want to build supports because the kids using substances usually have an underlying mental health, trauma or marginalization.”

Shari Shapiro from Kids in Crisis said the work required to receive the grant funding had begun years earlier with surveys.

“It took a long time to get everyone on board and know that we were looking for important critical information for our kids, not finger pointing,” she said. “What we’ve uncovered are more and more needs.”

She said Greenwich Together’s members included public schools, private schools, agencies, the media, the clergy, police and and government officials. The co-chairs of the Greenwich Together coalition are Commissioner of Human Services Demetria Nelson and Police Chief Jim Heavey.

“The work is so important – because if we don’t get this work done, we keep losing kids,” Shapiro said.

Ms Nelson said she used survey data in Greenwich to request appropriations for use of opioid settlement funds and to justify the use of those funds for initiatives related to prevention and treatment.

Ms Shapiro said the data was also impactful to the young people to let them know that people care about them and that not all their peers are using.

Proliferation of Vape Shops

Norwalk Police chief James Walsh said there had been explosion of smoke shops and unauthorized vape shops, including gas stations and small retail locations selling cannabis and high illegal THC products right over the counter.

“There have been some cases where we’ve pulled out well over double digit pounds of weed – marijuana, cannabis – where they’re selling it right over the counter,” Walsh said.

He added that many 19- and 20-year olds believed it was legal for them to purchase the products.

“We explain to them it’s legal for people 21 and and above when they purchase through one of the three registered cannabis dealers in the city of Norwalk,” he said.

“We can’t close that establishment, and a lot of it is absentee ownership or out-of-state ownership. We’ve seen a lot of  foreign nationals owning businesses and they’re making a great deal of money selling products to people who are unaware of the dangers,” Chief Walsh said.

“The cannabis you buy at the three registered shops is regulated, inspected and grown in a certain manner. And now they are selling product over the counter at any of these vape shops we’ve investigated that is unregulated, not inspected and could be tainted. It could be mixed with something else. It’s very dangerous.”

Ms Watt said legislative advocacy was critical, and had resulted in strengthening the cannabis law. She mentioned one particular local supermarket had been selling beverages with high THC, but once legislators were involved there was an immediate change.

The Greenwich Together website has resources on suicide prevention, mental health and addiction services, as well as information on underage drinking, social media use and prescription drug misuse.