Jane is your Regional Substance Use Prevention Consultant. She works with community groups, schools, human service agencies, hospitals, law enforcement, parents and youth. The purpose of this work is to educate communities about the risks of alcohol and other drug use and to reduce misuse among youth, young adults and adults through: 

  • Community organizing

  • Program planning and consultation

  • Presentations and training

  • Community grants information and guidance

  • Information and referral

 

PREVENTION WORKS!

Community Organization Focuses on Preventing Alcohol and other Drug Use

Several area organizations provide coordination of prevention partnerships in our community. These partnerships aim to reduce underage drinking, binge drinking, prescription drug misuse and cannabis use by promoting municipal policy changes, providing opportunities for education and providing referrals to local resources.

Below are the community partners in our area. Contact them to find out what they do and how you can get involved!

Community Partners
  • Mentor Connector empowers Rutland County youth through education, prevention services and one-on-one mentoring. Mentor Connector is overseeing the Vermont Youth Project (VYP) is a community-driven collaborative designed to embrace positive youth development in Rutland City School District and Slate Valley Unified School District.

  • Partners for Prevention works on substance use prevention around alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs and building capacity for prevention efforts in Rutland County.

  • Project VISION works together to address substance abuse, reduce crime and build great neighborhoods.

  • Otter Valley PROSPER partnership deliver evidence-based program to families and youth to bring about positive community-wide change.

  • Turning Point Center Rutland provides support, acceptance, belonging, love and fellowship for addiction recovery.

Talking to Your Kids About Alcohol and Other Drugs

 

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Using alcohol and other drugs in early life can have a negative impact on your child’s health now, and later on by impacting proper brain development and creating other risks. You are their #1 influence. Parent Up Vermont has tips on how to start and continue to have conversations with your children early and often, no matter how awkward.

 

Prescription Drug Disposal

Properly storing and getting rid of unused prescription medications protects your loved ones and the environment. Here are three easy steps:

 

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1. LOCK:  Store your medications in a lock box or locked medicine cabinet.
2. DROP: Drop off unused medication at a kiosk or at your local pharmacy or police stations. Find a location in your area.
3. MAIL:  Mail unused medication in a pre-paid envelope. Request a free mail-back envelope.

 

Treatment is Effective!

Treatment might look different depending on the level that you need. Find the type of treatment that is right for you or your loved one, what to expect, how soon you can get help and the treatment services specific to youth, people who are pregnant or breastfeeding and older adults on our Treatment Options page.

There are a number of treatment options in your community. Find them, as well as answers to common questions you may have about treatment in the Rutland County Resource Guide.

 

People Recover!

There is no wrong door to recovery. It is a life-long journey that is not always a straight line. Find recovery opportunities and supports in your area on our Recovery page.

Local Highlights

We make local connections in the field of substance use, with partners and projects ranging from prevention to treatment and recovery. Engaging those partners varies from bringing information and data to a single meeting to collaborating on long-term projects which aim to prevent and reduce substance misuse in the region over time.

We do this by:

  • Partnering with municipalities to support Healthy Community Design and adopt health-promoting language in town plans.

  • Supporting community efforts that create fair and just opportunities for health, especially for people who have experienced socioeconomic disadvantage, historical injustice, and other avoidable systemic inequalities. 

  • Working with communities to increase understanding of how to impact risk and protective factors and prevent substance use disorder.

  • Participating in or making suggestions for presentations on the topic of substance misuse prevention.

  • Applying the Strategic Prevention Framework to our community efforts.