About $2.35 million in grants is being awarded by the United Health Foundation to the Governor’s Prevention Partnership and to the Village for Families & Children to help them increase local education and outreach for teen drug use among Hartford teens and their families.
The two, three-year grants will fund separate, three-year initiatives with each partner. These partnerships are part of United Health Foundation’s city-based approach to provide resources to programs that connect and build healthier communities.
At the end of the three years, the Governor’s Partnership and the Village will issue white papers with their respective results and provide details on how these initiatives may be replicated.
“By working closely with these community organizations to address critical health issues, particularly increasing drug use among teenagers, we are helping build a healthier Hartford,” said Martha Temple, senior vice president of Optum Behavioral Health.
In the past three years, the number of drug deaths in Connecticut increased 44 percent, according to the 2016 America’s Health Rankings Annual Report. While Connecticut ranked third in overall health among all 50 states, it ranked 28th on this measure, highlighting the need for greater collaboration and increased efforts to address substance use, the foundation said.
