Published in the July 5, 2017 edition
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Local and school officials are undertaking a multi-pronged approach toward preventing and treating substance abuse among adolescents and young adults in town.
The Board of Selectmen and School Committee held a joint meeting last week to discuss substance abuse prevention efforts being undertaken by the newly formed coalition, A Healthy Lynnfield, as well as by town departments.
“This issue affects many people in their 20s and 30s,” said Selectmen Chairman Chris Barrett.
Selectman Phil Crawford said A Healthy Lynnfield consists of 38 members, including 15 medical professionals. He said the coalition has been reaching out to area substance abuse coalitions including Danvers to learn more about those communities’ programs.
“The mission of the coalition is awareness and education as well as offering resources and treatment to the town of Lynnfield to make it a healthier community,” said Crawford. “That is why we named it A Healthy Lynnfield.”
School initiatives
Superintendent of Schools Jane Tremblay said the Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered to students in sixth, ninth and 11th grade in 2014.
“The statistics that came out of the survey were alarming,” said Tremblay. “Fifty-nine percent of our kids reported smoking marijuana in the last 30 days, and 70 percent of our kids were using some kind of tobacco product. Fifty percent of our kids said they felt sad or hopeless in the last 12 months.”
Tremblay said the survey’s results led to the presence of a school resource officer and the hiring of full-time adjustment counselor at Lynnfield High School. She said the results led to improved communication with outside providers such as psychologists, and the creation of a transitional learning program at LHS.
The superintendent said social-emotional issues are “not anything new” to school officials, but “behaviors in our students are getting more ramped up then they have ever been.”
“All of the schools next year will be focusing on social-emotional learning,” said Tremblay. “It looks very different from kindergarten students to high school students.”
Tremblay noted Huckleberry Hill School will be building on its social-emotional learning program next year, while Summer Street School will be researching and adopting a program. She said the middle school will be focusing on building resiliency in students. She said the high school’s Compass Program will be taking an active role with different initiatives.
“The whole idea of all of this is to build a social-emotional foundation for our students so they can turn to people and not substances and risky behaviors,” said Tremblay. “It’s about building self-confidence and respect. It’s something we are going to be focusing on for awhile.”
In response to a question from Barrett, Teaching and Learning Director Kevin Cyr said the high school’s Compass Program seeks to raise awareness about different issues such as relationship building, positive decision-making and positive behavior. He said Compass has brought in guest speakers, which have been well received by students.
“We are continuing to build on the Compass program,” said Cyr. “There are opportunities to do more from a community standpoint. We would like to bring in local speakers as well as the headliners.”
Crawford noted students in area school districts have produced videos to raise awareness about substance abuse. He proposed having Lynnfield students undertake a similar project.
Tremblay said middle and high school students will be taking the Youth Risk Behavior Survey once again next year. Crawford proposed administering a similar survey to parents.
Fire Department initiatives
Fire Chief Mark Tetreault said establishing A Healthy Lynnfield is a positive step forward.
“Our paramedics often have to administer Narcan, but that is closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out,” said Tetreault.
Tetreault said the Fire Department has access to Narcan, and firefighters have received proper training. He also said the Fire and Health departments would like to install a drop box where people can dispose needles and other sharps.
The fire chief said firefighter/paramedic Jeff Fiorentino “would like to incorporate a prevention curriculum into our community to support what the schools are doing.”
“Sometimes a different messenger can get the message across,” said Tetreault.
Tetreault said the Fire Department would like to create an intervention program where “people can come and ask for help.” He said the Fire Department has researched similar programs in Nashua and Manchester, New Hampshire in addition to Gloucester’s Angel program.
“We are looking to see what we could implement here to help people seeking treatment,” said Tetreault.
Police Department initiatives
Police Chief David Breen said the Police Department works to address substance abuse in different ways, including bringing addicts to area hospitals in order to get treatment.
“Unfortunately, you don’t see that too often,” said Breen. “I have been in law enforcement for 34 years, and I have seen that two or three times max.”
Breen said the Police Department works with District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s Drug Diversion Program, which was established in 2007. The Drug Diversion Program is a pre-arraignment and post-arraignment program for non-violent offenders with substance abuse issues.
“People can avoid prosecution if they successfully complete the program,” said Breen. “The program takes about a year to complete. It’s a model nationwide.”
The police chief said “we have Narcan in all of our cruisers.” He said the Police Department offers a prescription drug drop off program twice a year. Breen said he would like to expand the program, but said the police station’s size prevents that from occurring.
“It has to be manned at all times,” said Breen. “Wakefield and Danvers have drop off boxes available 24/7.”
Church initiatives
Crawford said the town’s churches have embraced A Healthy Lynnfield’s initiatives, including Rev. Paul Ritt of the Lynnfield Catholic Collaborative.
Father Ritt said establishing the substance abuse coalition is a “noble and needed effort.” He said churches “have an important role to play” in the initiative.
“I have celebrated too many funerals of victims of opioid abuse over my 36 years in the priesthood,” said Ritt. “I was talking with a priest in West Roxbury, who was telling me about a funeral director who serves their parish. He went to a morgue there, and there were 40 bodies in that morgue. Seventeen of them were victims of opioid abuse. That is a staggering number. This is an issue that affects everyone, from West Roxbury to Lynnfield.”
Moving forward
The selectmen and School Committee voted unanimously to appoint A Healthy Lynnfield’s steering committee, which is the coalition’s voting block. The steering committee consists of Crawford, Breen, Tetreault, Cyr, Rev. Ritt, Fiorentino, Town Administrator Jim Boudreau, Health Director Kristin Esposito McRae, School Committee member Jamie Hayman, Nursing Director Mary Homan and health professional Tom Adamczyk.
Barrett proposed having the selectmen and School Committee hold joint meetings twice a year to discuss substance abuse issues.
School Committee Chairman Tim Doyle said school officials are looking forward to tackling the issue.
“The primary objective on our end is addressing substance abuse where appropriate, so when students run into these situations whether it’s peer pressure or a setback in life, we give them the tools to overcome that,” said Doyle. “This is not about the two boards. This is about affecting change in people’s lives. If we can help one family or five families the first year, that will be a success. We are here to build a stronger community.”
Hayman agreed. “I think there is a lot we can do. We need to have an open and frank discussion about the fact that Lynnfield is not immune to this,” he said.
