Live reporting: Substance Abuse Presentation

b. FHS Substance Abuse Task Force

Peter Light, Kristin Circe, and Joshua MacCreery

Substance Abuse Education - 2016 from Franklin Matters

numbers lower than national average but can be better
data from MetroWest survey has not changed a whole deal over the years

substance abuse education from K-12
age appropriate through the years to create and enhance the awareness
more depth beginning about 5th grade

increase in clubs and activities at the High School helps
SADD is a key club in some of the activities

Panthers Club and Community Service Club

School Wellness Advisory Council (SWAC)
focuses on extra curricular healthy activities

FHS substance abuse sub-committee has three leads to focus on students, faculty and community to assist in raising awareness and education

Chris Herren (former NBA basketball player) coming to speak at FHS Feb 29th


Bilello - thanks for the information
it was disappointing that at the SAFE coalition forum, one student spoke to somethings that are not reflected here
what are you doing with the middle schools?

Circe - using the data to drive curriculum and awareness down to the middle school level, the 7/8 students actually participate in the survey

Light - did get about 80 FHS teachers show up to do something to help, looking to start small and build on success; activities being planned around the Chris Herren visit; possible event planned for the joint basketball games at FHS against KP. Police coming in to do some drug awareness training during March and extend to middle school personnel. This does have a district wide impact

Schultz - question on the numbers, 10% in middle school 
Circe - the answers are life time events, not necessarily an indication of a continued use. Later added that the average had decreased over the past several year. Still a decent number of users but a down trend.
Light - use of a 'party' bowl where extra drugs are brought to a party to be shared - not really a smart decision because you have no idea what is really being used
Sabolinski - academic stress increases as they get to juniors, taking more caffeine and other self medications to get through it. Can go back to the zones of regulation, helping kids learn to recognize and deal with the emotions. Have spent several years moving in this direction. The anxiety and depression increases

Jewel - concern with the guidance as not always be good, need to be able to decipher. Some of the consequences of taking one drug or another may not be recoverable.

"Text is unbelievably private. No one hears you talking."

Sounds like this would be key another resource to turn for help

When a young woman texted DoSomething.org with a heartbreaking cry for help, the organization responded by opening a nationwide Crisis Text Line to provide an outlet for people in pain. 

Nearly 10 million text messages later, the organization is using the privacy and power of text messaging to help people with issues such as addiction, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, sexual abuse and more. 

The data collected in the process is reshaping policy and preparing schools and law enforcement to better handle spikes in crises.

You can watch Nancy Lublin tell her story here




You can read more about the crisis text line here  http://www.crisistextline.org/

The top 50 words in a text from some one asking for help with substance abuse

Top 50 words in a text message from some one seeking help with substance abuse

You can find out more of the trends that they share from the data they collect
http://www.crisistextline.org/trends/


Coincidently, MDN ran an editorial Friday on texting for suicide help
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20151105/OPINION/151107172/2011/OPINION

MassBudget: Analyzing the State Budget for FY 2016

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Analyzing the State Budget for FY 2016  With the House and Senate having overridden a number of the Governor's vetoes, the Fiscal Year 2016 (FY 2016) budget is now largely complete. This year's budget makes few major changes in overall funding provided to educate our children, keep our communities safe, protect our most vulnerable, strengthen our economy and improve the quality of life in our communities. Click HERE for our full analysis. The budget does include several significant new initiatives, including: Increasing the value of the state earned income tax credit from 15% of the federal credit to 23%. This will provide additional income to over 400,000 lower wage workers and their families (click HERE for town-by-town detail). Besides improving lives now by helping parents to pay for necessities like food and clothing for their children, this additional support is also likely to expand opportunity for these children over the long run: there is growing evidence that when the income of a lower income family increases, the children often do better in school and earn more as adults. Providing significant new tools for the administration to improve management at the MBTA. The budget creates a new MBTA Control Board and authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to appoint the Director of the MBTA. The budget also suspends for three years the Taxpayer Protection Act (commonly called the Pacheco Law) that regulates privatization. The law requires that privatization efforts achieve savings by efficiency improvements rather than by reducing pay and benefits for workers (click HERE for more detail). Addressing substance abuse with targeted investments throughout MassHealth, public health and mental health. In particular, new initiatives support first responders and others in the community struggling to address the challenge of opioid addiction. The final budget, like the budget proposed by the governor back in March, relies heavily on temporary strategies to balance the budget. It spends $300 million in capital gains tax revenue that would have gone into the Rainy Day Fund under current law. It also counts on $100 million from a tax amnesty and $116 million from putting off paying some of our FY 2016 MassHealth bills into FY 2017. As has been the case for many years, state budget choices are being shaped by fiscal challenges that date back to the late 1990s: after cutting the income tax by over $3 billion dollars between 1998 and 2002 our state has had to make deep cuts in areas like higher education, local aid, and public health. Meanwhile, the highest income residents in the Commonwealth are paying a substantially smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than do the other 99%. If our tax system were reformed so that the highest income 1% of taxpayers paid roughly the same share of their income in taxes as everyone else, that would raise about $2 billion that could be invested in things like making college affordable, improving our transportation systems, and providing all children with the supports they need to thrive. Please click HERE for our full analysis. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

MassBudget website screen grab

Kathi Meyer on teen drinking

The Taylor Meyer tragedy has lead to an increase awareness of teen drinking. Kathi Meyer is interviewed in this video from the Norfolk County District Attorney, William Keating.

Note: Email subscribers will need to click through to the web site to view the video.



Other info on teen drinking:

The W.A.S.T.E.D presentation at Franklin High School

Other videos from the Norfolk District Attorney can be found here

"It's just too big a deal to leave to chance"

I mentioned having a choice on where to go Thursday evening: The Financial Planning Committee or the WASTED panel discussion at Franklin High School. I chose the Financial Planning meeting and did my reporting here.

Our teen drinking problem, really more broadly terms substance abuse problem, because it is not just drinking, touches all the communities around us. Here is a report on the effort in Medway.

MEDWAY —

Marilyn Belmonte has a message for parents who say underage drinking is just a matter of kids being kids: It's a whole new world out there.

"There's a real change in the mentality," said Belmonte, a youth substance abuse prevention coordinator, to a group of parents assembled at Medway High School Wednesday night for "Turning Off the Tap," a presentation about underage drinking.

Recent incidents like the alcohol-related death of Plainville teen Taylor Meyer last October have moved the subject to the front burner, and the program detailed alarming new trends in teenage alcohol use, including extreme drinking games and binging.

"It really has changed," Belmonte said. Kids in the instant-gratification age are looking for quick fixes, and new trends, such as flavored alcohol. Walk into any store, she said, and you'll find shelves lined with attractive packages of vodkas in kid-friendly watermelon and cherry, perfect for teens looking to consume straight alcohol. Add in energy drinks as popular mixers and you've got the perfect storm, she said.

"They're mixing alcohol, which is a depressant, with energy drinks, which are stimulants, and the battle gets fought out in the heart," said Belmonte.

Parents can help by laying down the law. Recent studies show that the kids least likely to drink are those whose parents make it clear that such behavior is off limits.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

FM #29 - This week in Franklin, MA

This is the 29th in a series of podcasts on what is happening in Franklin, MA. In this session, I talk about how much snow removal we should do and about the teen substance abuse problem that Bill Phillips and his New Beginnings Program addresses.

Time: 9 minutes, 20 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes

Music intro
My intro
FM #29

This podcast for Franklin Matters is number 29 in the series. In this session, I’ll focus on what you should know about what is happening this week in Franklin, MA.

From the Town Council meeting 1/21/09, there was a very good presentation on the DPW and their snow removal efforts. Robert Cantoreggi, DPW Director was accompanied by Jim Estabrook, Graphical Information Systems Manager, to make the presentation. The video of the Town Council meeting is available on the town website. The presentation itself is also available on Franklin Matters.

You should note that the town website has added a link in the left column to allow you to go directly to the live video feeds and to the video archives. This is a simple navigation aid that will have lasting benefits. Thanks very much for putting this link in place. I have also added a link in the meetings for 2009 section.

In these days of cost cutting, one discussion we should have is how much should we spend on the snow removal? If you travel into some of the upstate Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont communities, they do not always plow their roads down to the pavement like we do here. There are other examples in state as well as out of state. You can travel on them. It is not a safety issue from a passageway point of view. You would need to travel slower as they remain snow covered and hence would tend to be slippery.

The money for salt and labor is effective only for as a short term benefit. Since a million dollars provides the salary and benefits for about 20 employees in the town. I would rather spend the money to keep people on the payroll rather than toss it away on road salt and snow removal.

What do you think?

Should we continue to pay whatever it takes to plow and sand our roads as we are today or should we consider cutting back, especially to save the money for other priorities? I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say on this.

The Town Council has asked the DPW Director to come back with some alternatives of reducing cost by 10 or 20 percent. Stay tuned into this discussion to see what happens.

A second item from the Town Council meeting will be worth watching, The Police Dept conducted a sting operation with 28 establishments in town that serve liquor and apparently caught two serving minors. I am not a lawyer but based upon what was reported in the Milford Daily News, they may not have a solid case on one of the two establishments. The hearing on the 4th should be interesting.

Let me be clear, the sting was a good thing. We do need to monitor how our teenagers get access to alcohol. The drinking and substance abuse amongst our teens is a problem that needs to be addressed. Bill Phillips has stated that you can get alcohol, drugs and weapons in any high school. In one school, there was a cooler in the student’s vehicle in the school parking lot to serve the beer cold. Bill referenced these and other stories during the WASTED presentation at Franklin High School in December. If you have not yet listened to that, I do recommend it. It is powerful material.

Bill’s program, New Beginnings, is in jeopardy. He had been funded by the MA Dept of Public Health. Unfortunately, his grant has been cut in this recent round of state budget cuts. The program has addressed over 200,000 teenagers since it was established in 1985. He currently is providing services to over 150 teenagers.

On the night he presented at Franklin High, he acknowledged receiving 19 emails from Franklin students after talking with them during the assemblies that day. 19 students by 4:00 PM that day had already reached out to Bill for help. How many of those are in jeopardy of losing Bill’s support right now? I don’t know but the odds are that some from Franklin are in the bunch.

I have started to help Bill in raising additional funds for his program. You may have noticed the Virgin Atlantic contest posting on Franklin Matters. This is just one step in the process of raising awareness for his program. I think his program is effective. I think it is valuable. I think it needs to raise additional funds to keep operating.

If you can help in anyway, I would appreciate it. Making a contribution is one way. You can contribute directly via his web site.

If you know of any company or foundation that Bill could appeal to for a contribution, please let me know. Or contact Bill directly.

If you would like to help spread the word on keeping the program alive, please let Bill or I know.

And to close this session, let’s look at what is coming up this week: there is a

• Planning Board meeting on Monday
• School Committee meeting on Tuesday
• Financial Planning Committee is scheduled for Thursday
  

These are the “major” meetings. There are others listed on the Town website calendar.
Check them out.
Keep informed
and stay warm!

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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow citizens of Franklin, MA

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music

"I like the sting, it's good"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jan 24, 2009 @ 11:13 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Two bars in town may temporarily lose their liquor licenses after allegedly serving alcohol to teens working with Franklin Police in an age compliance check, police said.

Workers at the Pepper Terrace Restaurant, at 400 Franklin Village Drive, and Cottage Street Pub & Grill, at 158 Cottage St., allegedly sold the teens beer on Saturday, Jan. 17, said Lt. Thomas Lynch.

"Do they look like they're 21? No they don't," Lynch said, explaining that police specifically instructed the teens not to wear make-up, jewelry, or dress up to appear older.

The goal, he said, was to check whether the establishments would serve people who were clearly younger than 21 years old.

Read the full article on the results of this sting operation in the Milford Daily News here

Our teens need your help

Since 1985, the New Beginnings Program (NBP) has provided a comprehensive wellness initiative for schools, parents and communities for hundreds of youth involved in drug and alcohol addiction. The presentations, classes, one-to-one education, and true life testimonies have made a substantial impact. As a result of the recent cuts in funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, NBP has cut its staff, supplies and other expenditures jeopardizing the support for over 120 youth currently in the program.

The New Beginnings Program faces a critical need for financial resources to sustain the counseling services that our youth at risk require.

Please visit the NBP website to find information regarding its services, successes, and to make a contribution.

Bill Phillips, the founder of New Beginnings, was a central part of the WASTED presentation at Franklin High School in December, 2008.


You can help by casting your vote in support of this program here:
http://revolutiontakesflight.com/items/Help_Teens_with_Substance_Abuse?c=0

Free registration will be required to cast your vote.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF MA, 21 YEARS AND OLDER. VOID OUTSIDE OF MA AND WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes ends: 2/6/09.

For Official Rules and prize descriptions and odds disclosure, visit http://www.revolutiontakesflight.com. Sponsor: Virgin America, 555 Airport Blvd., 4th Floor, Burlingame, CA 94010.

"Franklin does not have "any more or less" drugs than any other community"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jan 22, 2009 @ 01:05 AM

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FRANKLIN —

In what police say is likely the biggest heroin bust in Franklin's history, Franklin Police and the Norfolk County Police Anti-Crime Task Force seized 324 grams of heroin from a Providence man who sold $150 worth of cocaine to an undercover officer.

In addition to the $32,000 worth of heroin, police also seized 12 grams of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $500 to $1,000, and $4,339 in cash during the arrest at 599 Old West Central St. (Rte. 140), police said.

"It's a very significant bust. Most people involved in the investigation and arrest, even the narcotics guys, they'd never seen that much heroin in any one place before this," said Franklin Lt. Thomas Lynch.

"That was the most (heroin seized) in one incident for one individual Franklin has ever had. In the 12 years I've been in law enforcement, I've never seen that much heroin in one place," said Lynch.

Read the full article on the heroin bust in the Milford Daily News here

Our teens have admitted struggling with substance abuse. You can check out the WASTED presentation here.

"There's really been a culture change"

Over the past decade, Revere has seen significant statistical drops in the percentage of middle school and high school students who use and abuse alcohol, coinciding with what local officials, parents, and students themselves say has been a shift in attitudes about drinking.

That's no accident. Since 1997, Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare have spent $4.4 million to fund a program called Revere CARES, designed to reduce teen drinking and substance abuse in a community where adults themselves abused alcohol and drugs at considerably higher rates than the state as a whole.

....

The data show particular improvement among middle schoolers' behavior in the five years since Revere CARES launched a campaign called the "Power of Know," which included getting more than 1,000 parents of adolescents to sign cards pledging to talk with their children about alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, listen to their kids, and get to know their children's friends and their parents.

Bold for my emphasis

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here