Bugle Staff
In an effort to reverse the increasing number of heroin overdose deaths in the area, the Will County Board voted unanimously to allocate $30,000 from a federal Justice Assistance Grant to continue heroin prevention curriculum in county schools.
Board members recently approved a recommendation from Will County Executive Larry Walsh to apply for a U.S. Department of Justice grant to introduce the Robert Crown Center for Health Education’s heroin prevention curriculum in the Lincoln Way High Schools and the Wilmington Community Unit School District.
“Heroin abuse continues to plague our entire nation and as county leaders, we are obligated to do as much as possible to help fight this crisis,” Walsh said in a news release announcing the grant application. “These federal grant dollars will enable us to continue to educate our children about the dangers of heroin and other prescription drug abuse.”
For the last six years, the county has used justice assistance grants to begin a pilot heroin education programs at several county school districts, including Bolingbrook and Romeoville schools in Valley View School District 365U, Joliet Township High School District, Troy School District and Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202. Robert Crown’s heroin prevention curriculum teaches children to understand the risks associated with drug use, specifically targeting heroin and prescription pain medication.
“I believe it’s important to partner and work with our local school districts to provide resources and as much education as possible about the dangers of heroin use,” said Will County Board member Ray Tuminello, R-New Lenox. “I look forward to seeing this program begin in more schools throughout Will County, as it’s an important step in fighting back against the epidemic.”
The 2016 justice assistance grant would allow the curriculum to be presented to approximately 1,750 freshmen students in the Lincoln Way High School District and 210 eighth and ninth grade students in the Wilmington School District.
“We are very thankful to Will County for offering this important prevention education to our students and their families,” said Matt Swick, soon to be superintendent for the Wilmington School District. “Our communities have been particularly hard hit by this heroin crisis and we must do all we can to educate our students about the dangers of drug abuse.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicate that 2014 was the deadliest year on record for drug overdoses in the U.S. In the past four years, heroin overdose deaths have more than tripled.
With the exception of Cook County, Will County had a higher number of heroin overdose deaths in 2015 than any other Illinois county. Last year, 53 people died of heroin overdose death in the county, representing an approximately 50 percent increase over 2014 figures.
“We are approaching the heroin epidemic in a comprehensive way,” Walsh said. “By educating students in a proactive manner before they get caught up in this awful drug and also having first responders prepared to deal with the negative consequences of heroin use, we are hoping to save lives and get people on the road to recovery.”
Last year, Will County launched a program to equip and train first responders to administer the heroin overdose antidote naloxone to individuals experiencing an overdose.