A new program aims to help curb opioid and substance abuse disorders in Saratoga County schools.
The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the use of $200,000 in Opioid Regional Abatement funding to create a partnership between the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and the Saratoga County Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Republican County Board of Supervisors Chair Phil Barrett says this latest initiative is a continuation of years of effort to curb drug addiction and related deaths in the county.
Having previously led the Health and Human Services Committee, Barrett says the need for a new approach, starting in the county’s schools, is evident.
“Our schools are on the frontlines, dealing with young children who are, sometimes, in a very difficult state of mind and are just taken over by the use of drugs. And it starts somewhere, whether it starts with smoking or vapes or marijuana and it, unfortunately, in most occasions it leads to something much more concerning,” said Barrett.
Victoria Furfaro is on the Saratoga County Citizens Committee for Mental Health and says community members have been hesitant to support such programming, but the benefits are immense.
“They may think the children are too innocent or whatever it may be to learn about these things and have it present in the schools, but I think it is extremely helpful. And currently, this year, the topic for the Saratoga County Citizens Committee of Mental Health is that we are touching on substance use in order to change the stigma surrounding that. So, I think that’s something that’s very important to do as well is changing the stigma. Because once you change the stigma you have access to so many more resources,” explained Furfaro.
The program will connect Certified Recovery Peer Advocates with already in-place School Resource Officers to assist students suffering from substance abuse disorders and provide education to students and teachers throughout the county.
Sheriff’s Department Captain Dan Morley says the department is grateful to be working with mental health professionals in a way that adds onto existing services.
“It’s something that’s going to build on the trust that we’ve already developed with the students and the schools, we hope. And it’s going to be a situation where hopefully with that trust that’s been built up, people are going to have the desire to approach these individuals, these professionals, and fulfill their needs for whatever needs they have in the recovery community,” said Morley.
Again, Barrett.
“The Certified Recovery Peer Advocates, they’re people that work directly with individuals suffering from addiction. They, in many cases, have been addicted themselves, they’ve recovered, they’re professionally trained. So, they come in with a tremendous amount of credibility. But, as a government working in tandem with our policing agencies, we need to continually get better and change how we are tackling this issue,” said Barrett.
Furfaro says investments in mental health services, like providing Certified Recovery Peer Advocates, is vital to educating kids and parents on the dangers of and solutions to substance abuse before addictions develop.
“A substance use disorder is a symptom of a mental illness. So, I don’t think a substance use disorder exists if there is not a mental illness. It’s essentially just a coping mechanism for an individual that’s struggling. So, that doesn’t discriminate. Anyone can stumble upon a substance and before you know it you have a full-blown disease. So, bringing that awareness and education I think is really going to be the only way that we can prevent the uptick in fatal opioid-related overdoses,” said Furfaro.
Furfaro adds the program’s success may be difficult to quantify but it should be supported nonetheless.
You know, like, there’s not really data that’s going to come from the amount of people that were saved so-to-speak from this program being in schools. So I don’t know that there will be a clear-cut way to determine success, however I think the success is spoken for itself. That, even if you can deter one individual from becoming an adult with a substance use disorder that just can’t progress in life, I think it’s valuable,” explained Furfaro.
According to a 2023 report, Saratoga County saw fatal drug overdoses increase by more than 30% from the previous year, with 727 non-fatal and fatal drug overdoses overall.
