– A local agency dedicated to stemming substance use disorder in Steuben County is the recipient of $25,000 from the opioid settlements through the Steuben County Legislature.
The Steuben Prevention Coalition Opioid Committee (SPCOC) was awarded the funds to continue its active efforts in education, training and prevention of the disorder which has claimed two lives this year, with 95 reported overdoses at the end of March.
The small committee, largely composed of volunteers, is a part of the Steuben Prevention Coalition and partners with schools and other related county departments such as the Sheriff to coordinate community activities such as Drug Take Back Days, Black Balloon Day, Speakerfest and offers a robust Narcan training program.
It maintains close ties with other related agencies such as the county Public Health, Steuben County Substance Abuse Services, AIM, the Institute of Human Services/211 and Addiction Awareness of Steuben County.
“We are pleased to receive the additional funding to support not only our current projects, but to expand those projects into the more rural areas of Steuben County,” said SPCOC Program Assistant Connie Terry. “Many of our areas are not being served due to a lack of funding and resources. This will definitely help us in our prevention and harm reduction efforts.”
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The Steuben Prevention Coalition consists of community members representing 12 sectors from the community. The sectors include parents, media, youth serving organizations, civic and volunteer groups, health care professionals, business community, schools, law enforcement agencies, religious and fraternal organizations, state and local agencies in the field of substance abuse and youth under the age of 18.
The Coalition has two work groups that meet on a regular basis. The current work groups are the Task Force on Underage Drinking and the Task Force on Marijuana Prevention.
