UK St. Claire receives grant focused on youths’ substance use prevention

UK St. Claire, through its hosted Northeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center (AHEC), has been selected to receive a $249,759 grant from the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission aimed at preventing or reducing youth substance use.

The project, which will begin July 1 and continue through June 30, 2028, will support the Northeast Kentucky AHEC in recruiting and developing youth prevention ambassadors from high schools in Carter, Greenup, Lawrence, Montgomery, and Rowan counties. Most of these youth prevention ambassadors will be selected from among the AHEC’s Rural Health Scholars, a group of high school juniors and seniors who receive assistance in their pursuit of future health care careers.

The target counties were selected based on high rates of drug overdose deaths and high numbers of students participating in the Rural Health Scholars program.

“Thankfully, overdose deaths have declined across our region in recent years,” said David A. Gross, director of the Northeast Kentucky AHEC, “and we hope a focus on prevention will save even more lives going forward. We’ve had tremendous success using peer-to-peer approaches on various topics, and we can’t wait to start teaching local students how to engage with their classmates about substance use prevention.”

The Northeast Kentucky AHEC’s project partner is Pathways, Inc., which will train students on how to recognize the warning signs of substance use and how best to engage with and educate their peers as well as parents and guardians. Project activities will include development of drug-free youth clubs; sessions for athletes and coaches on injury management without the use of opioids; and workshops for parents and guardians about how to talk to their children about avoiding substance use.

Since 2017, UK St. Claire and the Northeast Kentucky AHEC have received grant awards totaling more than $10.6 million for substance use-related projects focused on treatment, youth prevention, provider training, jail reentry, and recovery supports.