Published in the September 15, 2016 edition
By BOB TUROSZ
NORTH READING — North Reading is one of only two towns in Massachusetts to win approval of its grant application for a federal Drug Free Communities grant in 2016, awarded by the White House Drug Policy Office this week.
The coveted federal grant to prevent youth substance abuse, is worth $625,000 to the town over the next five years to involve and engage the local community to prevent substance abuse among the town’s youth.
“This is a really big team win” for the town, said North Reading Youth Services Director Amy Luckiewicz when the grant award was announced at the Selectmen’s meeting Monday night.
The grant was awarded to the North Reading Youth Substance Use Prevention Coalition, a part of the town’s Community Impact Team and is for $125,000 a year in grant funds for each of the next five years to involve and engage the local community in ways to prevent substance use among youth.
Every day 4,000 12–to 17–year–olds use drugs for the first time, Luckiewicz said in announcing the grant with Police Chief Michael Murphy.
“Our goal is to make North Reading a safe and drug–free place for our youth,” said Luckiewicz. “Prevention is a powerful tool to counteract prescription drug misuse and other youth substance use in our community, and we will use this funding to help youth in North Reading make healthy choices about substance use.” Luckiewicz will serve as the grant’s Program Director and use the funds to hire a full-time program coordinator. “This position will allow us to dedicate someone with a social services and education background full–time to tackle this difficult issue,” Luckiewicz noted.
The North Reading award will focus on marijuana use and prescription drug misuse as well as report on alcohol and tobacco use among youth 18 and under. Through focusing on the Seven Strategies for Community Change, the Coalition developed a 12–month action plan as part of their grant process. Luckiewicz explained, “We wouldn’t have gotten funded without a plan in place that is focused on evidence–based strategies. We’re looking forward to sharing the plan with the community.”
Although the Coalition’s application won approval of the grant – the only other town in Massachusetts to win approval was Ware – when she spoke of a “team win”, Luckiewicz credited support from the entire community that made the application successful, including the school, fire and police departments as well as support in town hall from Finance Director Liz Rourke and Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto, Sen. Bruce Tarr and State Rep. Brad Jones Jr. and Fire Chief Bill Warnock.
The grant doesn’t just focus on drug abuse, it also focuses on “perception of harm”, said Luckiewicz. They will work on collecting, in the next three months, information that is specific to North Reading youth. The grant has measurable goals for the first year, to increase community collaboration, reduce youth substance use, and improve data collection.
A second focus is to target marijuana use and prescription drugs as well as report on alcohol and tobacco use because those are often precursors to heavier opioid abuse, she said.
The team’s 12–month action plan addressed all seven of the strategies for community change. A good example of that is “Providing Support,” she said.
“Although this is a prevention grant, we need to keep in mind young people struggling in a family of addiction are extra vulnerable to become users themselves. We need to provide extra support to families going through this struggle.”
In addition to qualifying for the full value of the grant, $125,000 a year for five years, North Reading has the option of applying for years six through 10, which would bring the total value of the grant to $1,250,000. With the grant, the town will be able to hire a full time program coordinator with benefits and a Youth Social Media Coordinator on a stipend. The hiring process will start soon, she said.
There will be four sessions of mandatory training throughout the country in the first year, she added.
T.A. Gilleberto praised the collaboration of the Community Impact Team, “This grant award is a positive reflection on the good work of the Town of North Reading’s Community Impact Team (CIT). Under the leadership of Chief Murphy, through the hard work of Ms. Luckiewicz, and with the support of the Board of Selectmen, the CIT has brought to the table the resources of many departments and committees – all aimed at improving the quality of life for our residents. This funding will allow the CIT and the Youth Substance Abuse Coalition to implement new strategies to fight drug abuse in North Reading. We are grateful to the Federal government, and we also thank State Senator Bruce Tarr and State Representative Brad Jones for their support in obtaining state funding to support the CIT over the past few years while they planned and applied for this federal funding.”
Chief Murphy added, “This newly created program helps fill a void in our efforts to eliminate substance abuse. Having a dedicated person, with the expertise in the field of substance abuse prevention, coordinate and implement our 12–month plan is invaluable. We’re looking forward to the positive impact of this program.”
Middlesex County has held the record for overdose deaths in Massachusetts every year since 2000. “That is a staggering statistic,” Luckiewicz said. “We are at the hub of this.” North Reading is the only newly funded town in Middlesex County and one of only seven Middlesex towns to ever win the grant.
Selectmen Chairman Robert Mauceri thanked the CIT as well as Rep. Jones and Sen. Tarr for helping get the CIT program off the ground by helping the town win money from the state for three years in a row. “We’re here today as a result of getting seed money from the state,” said Mauceri.
Mauceri and Chief Murphy both lauded Luckiewicz’s passion and hard work in winning the grant.
“Amy was certainly the driving force behind this, especially her persistence,” said Murphy. “This was not an easy hurdle to clear. We could not have done this without her. This grant is going to fill a significant void that we just don’t have the resources to fill,” said Murphy.
Sen. Tarr offered congratulations to everyone involved.
He said it was emblematic of Luckiewicz’s leadership that she was able to weave everyone into a team.
“This impacts every segment of the community so that everyone feels a part of this. That is an enormous challenge you have met.
“A vision for the future that started from absolutely nothing has been built into a tremendously impactful program,” said Tarr.
