PREVENTION IN ACTION
Local Concerns Require Local Solutions.
Fairfield CARES Community Coalition brings together a wide array of local residents to help address the issues of youth and young adult substance use and mental health wellness. We initiate programs that address youth substance use and mental health, and that provide guidance for positive wellness outcomes. We do this by applying best practice and proven effective strategies. While our target audience is youth and their parents, we also focus on the community environment, such as ensuring alcohol and vape retailers check IDs and do not sell to youth.
Our Priorities
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ALCOHOL
85% of middle school families and 74% of high school families have rules to discourage youth drinking. Let’s get those percentages even higher!
vaping
8 Fairfield teens produced 5 vaping prevention videos that got more than 16,000 views!
opioids
The Fairfield CARES Community Coalition continues to offer FREE Narcan training on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. 130 people have been trained!
marijuana
Youth marijuana use has been reduced 50% since 2008, 18% to 9% in 2023.
Our Initiatives
Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol
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58% of youth say that parents don’t make alcohol inaccessible, it’s easy to get. Inaccessibility will help to reduce youth alcohol use. To address that, Fairfield CARES Community Coalition developed materials for the community and retailers in an effort to reduce access.
30-Day Substance Use
Youth substance use in 2023 did not exceed 2019 levels. Substance use data for 2021 declined significantly because youth were not congregating due to Covid-19. The fact that 2023 youth substance use data stayed below 2019 is progress.
Preventing Retail Marijuana
in Fairfield
Photo: Emily DiSalvo/Hearst Connecticut Media Group
Youth are more likely to use, have easier access to, and perceive marijuana as harmless when marijuana retail stores are located in their community. Help keep marijuana stores out of Fairfield. Email tpzcommission@fairfieldct.org to voice your concern.
Making Mental Health Resources Available to Teens
44% of Fairfield’s high school students are struggling with persistent anxiety and 36% are depressed. The Fairfield CARES Community Coalition provides resources, like the book pictured above. We have also developed a resource sheet for teens.
There is still a lot of work we need to do and
we can do so much more with your support!
WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL HELP US DO
Building drug & alcohol resiliency skills in youth – “choosing not to use”
Provide education on fentanyl and counterfeit pills
Provide resources to teens who want to quit vaping
Provide training to alcohol beverage servers to check IDs & spot fake ones
Provide resources to parents on parenting skills, today’s cannabis, impact of alcohol on the teen brain & more
Support Fairfield Police Department’s compliance checks of tobacco & alcohol retailers
Promote safe storage and disposal of medications
Provide mental health resources to teens
Advocate to prevent youth cannabis/marijuana use
Conduct Narcan trainings so more people can save lives
Build capacity to collect data on youth substance use & mental health wellness
Conduct Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) suicide prevention so more people can help the distressed
Fairfield CARES is not yet a 501c3 organization. Positive Directions, a non-profit organization, is our fiscal agent for this fundraising effort, so your donation will be tax deductible.
THANK YOU!