DURING NATIONAL RECOVERY MONTH, CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN DELIVERS $1.25 MILLION TO COMBAT YOUTH DRUG USE, CRACKDOWN ON FENTANYL IN HUDSON VALLEY COMMUNITIES

During National Recovery Month, Congressman Pat Ryan Delivers $1.25 Million to Combat Youth Drug Use, Crackdown on Fentanyl in Hudson Valley Communities

Ryan secured $625,000 for the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council of Orange County’s Tri-County Prevention Coalition and $625,000 for The Council on Addiction, Prevention, and Education of Dutchess County, Inc. to implement comprehensive strategies and programming to combat youth drug use over the next five years, including keeping out deadly fentanyl 

WASHINGTON DC –  Today, Congressman Pat Ryan secured $1.25 million in federal Drug Free Community (DFC) funding to combat youth drug use in Orange and Dutchess County communities. Ryan delivered $625,000 for the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council (ADAC) of Orange County’s Tri-County Prevention Coalition (TCPC) and $625,000 for The Council on Addiction, Prevention, and Education of Dutchess County, Inc. to implement comprehensive strategies and programming to combat youth drug use over the next five years. Each coalition will receive $125,000 per year for the next five years. The funding comes during this month’s National Recovery Month that promotes awareness of drug addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery. Last year, Ryan secured $125,000 in DFC funding for the Warwick Valley Prevention Coalition to combat youth addiction in the Warwick Valley Central School District. 

“Addiction is tearing Hudson Valley families apart and stealing the bright futures of our kids with gut-wrenching frequency. I’m pushing to end that vicious cycle,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “During National Recovery Month, I’m proud to deliver this crucial funding that will help prevent Hudson Valley youth from ever falling into the spiral of addiction and keep deadly fentanyl out of our communities. I look forward to continuing to work with community partners and local officials as we fight to end youth drug use.” 

“The Northern Dutchess Community Coalition (NDCC), and its fiscal agent the Council on Addiction Prevention and Education (CAPE) of Dutchess County, are eager to enhance our work after securing a five-year continuation of the federal Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant,” said Dana Nalbandian, Interim Agency Director and Staff Accountant for the Council on Addiction Prevention and Education of Dutchess County, Inc. “The new funding will help the coalition expand its use of evidence-based prevention practices, increase public awareness of substance use trends, and continue efforts to prevent and reduce underage drinking, vaping, and the use of marijuana and other drugs. The coalition also aims to enhance the well-being of local youth and families through strong community bonds, collective action, and advocacy for policy change.”

“Research shows that PREVENTION is the most effective tool we have to reduce the consequences associated with underage drinking and drug use among young people,” said Alayne Eisloeffel, Program Director and Project Coordinator for TCPC. “This funding will allow the Tri-County Prevention Coalition to better engage and involve the community to steer more young people toward success and enable them to live healthier and safer lives.”

Congressman Ryan secured the $1.25 million in funding from the Fiscal Year 2024 White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Drug-Free Communities Support Program grants, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2023, Ryan secured $125,000 for the Warwick Valley Prevention Coalition from the same program.

With the funding, the Council on Addiction, Prevention, and Education of Dutchess County, Inc.’s Northern Dutchess Community Coalition looks to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing strategies that focus on youth alcohol use, tobacco and marijuana use, the opioid epidemic, increased community awareness, greater access to information, and infrastructural and policy reforms promoting a drug-free lifestyle. The Coalition serves Amenia, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, Barrytown, Millerton, Hyde Park, Millbrook,  Annandale-on-Hudson, Pleasant Valley and Pine Plains, New York. This area encompasses a

population of 65,282 residents. 

The Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council (ADAC) of Orange County’s Tri-County Prevention Coalition plans to use the $625,000 in funding to establish and strengthen community collaboration in support of local efforts to prevent youth substance use. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing these strategies: 

• Mobilizing key adult and youth stakeholders to challenge and address risk factors of community norms around substance use, low perception of risk, and easy access to substances by promoting and rewarding healthy choices and lifestyles
• Increasing protective factors of opportunities and rewards for prosocial involvement and social skills by supporting and expanding inclusive prevention programs and clubs in and out of schools
• Enhancing skills to identify and address local conditions contributing to youth substance use
• Supporting policies/laws that reduce access to alcohol and marijuana by minors, and increasing opportunities for youth to engage in needs assessment and strategic planning  activities, act as role models, and provide leadership around substance abuse prevention.

The Tri-County Prevention Coalition will specifically work to address underage drinking and marijuana use among youth through environmental strategies. The coalition includes diverse representation from all sectors of the community, including the Pine Bush Central School District, Town of Wallkill and Town of Crawford Police Departments, the Towns of Wallkill and Crawford, the Pine Bush Chamber of Commerce, The Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council (ADAC) of Orange County, Wallkill East Rotary, Mid-Hudson Prevention Resource Center, STOP-DWI of Orange County, POW’R Against Tobacco, Orange County Department of Mental Health, local hospitals, parents, business owners, and students. Its mission is to engage collaborative partners in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of strategies that prevent youth substance use. 

Congressman Pat Ryan has delivered major investments to combat drug trafficking and use in Hudson Valley communities, including $400,000 for the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office crisis intervention ORACLE team that tackles drug trafficking, addiction, and the overdose epidemic in Ulster County. Ryan has repeatedly called for increased funding to address drug trafficking and use, in particular the opioid and fentanyl crisis currently gripping Hudson Valley communities. He cosponsors the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act and the END FENTANYL Act and has demanded that any comprehensive border security legislation must include funding and provisions to stop the flow of fentanyl across the southern border. Congressman Ryan introduced the Public Safety and Community Support Act to use Byrne-JAG funds for deflection and pre-arrest diversion programs to help local law enforcement combat drug addiction

A key component of Congressman Ryan’s recently introduced Youth Agenda is preventing youth drug use and addiction. Ryan is a member of both the Congressional Dads Caucus and the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force. Ryan cosponsors the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act and the Mental Health Services for Students Act to make mental healthcare more accessible for youth, as well as the Substance Use Disorder Workforce Act to bolster the mental healthcare workforce to treat drug addiction. 

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