New Youth Substance Use Prevention Work in Tompkins County
Written by Jaime Croft and Andrea Phelps
The Rural Health Institute of New York (RHI) was founded to address youth substance use, a commitment that continues as we expand our work in Tompkins County. In the past year, RHI became a primary prevention provider to help strengthen countywide prevention efforts and support the health and safety of families. Our Tompkins County Prevention Team is partnering with local organizations to launch a county-wide substance use prevention initiative to strengthen family resources and promote community well-being for youth, their families, and the broader community.
Through this initiative, we plan to expand substance use education efforts to both youth and families, focusing our educational programming on known factors that influence substance use in the county. The 2023 CLYDE youth survey, which collected responses from more than 3,000 students in grades 7-12, highlights key risk factors: background, perceived risk, access, and family dynamics. Two populations face elevated risk: LGBQ+ students, who consistently report higher rates of substance use than their straight-identifying peers; and students with a family history of substance use, who also show higher usage rates. Depressive thoughts further increase risk. Together, these risk factors emphasize the need for inclusive and targeted prevention strategies that address the specific needs of these students.
The survey also shows that as students progress through school, perceived risk decreases and access increases, normalizing substance use. For example, the number of students who see a “great risk” in using cannabis drops by nearly half from 7th to 12th grade. Access to alcohol also rises sharply: 82.7% of 7th graders say it is hard to obtain alcohol, compared with only 43.5% of 12th graders. Additionally, across all grades, students tend to overestimate peer drinking, and the gap between perception and reality of how many of their peers drink widens with age. The normalization of substance use, in combination with an increase in access to substances, puts Tompkins County teens at risk, especially as they get older. This pattern highlights the need for education addressing access to substances, as well as social perceptions around substance use.
Despite these challenges, the survey highlights influential protective factors, including family dynamics. Students who report clear family rules around substance use show significantly lower rates of alcohol, cannabis, nicotine vape use, and binge drinking. Another factor associated with lower rates of substance use is if students reported feeling close to their parents. From this, we see a valuable opportunity to integrate parenting education into our prevention model, in order to support healthy family dynamics and increase protective factors for youth substance use.
To address the increase in substance use behaviors and beliefs in students as they progress through school – especially those at higher risk – we plan to work with local partners to deliver comprehensive and targeted prevention education that addresses social access, risk perceptions, adult and family factors, and the unique challenges faced by specific groups. Working collaboratively to address complex public health issues is what we do best at RHI, and we plan to provide our diverse expertise to develop a multifaceted approach. We plan to develop social norming and social marketing campaigns, designed in collaboration with and utilized by our partners, to reach a broad audience with information and strategies to combat youth substance use. The Community Health Educators on our Prevention Team will provide evidence-based, targeted substance use education for youth, such as Smart Talk: Cannabis Prevention & Awareness Curriculum, to complement the substance use education provided in many local schools by TST BOCES. Our educators can also partner with local organizations to facilitate customized programming on requested topics for parents and the broader community to address knowledge gaps, as well as help prepare parents for productive conversations with their children about substance use.
To tap into the influence parents have in their child’s health, our educators will provide evidence-based parenting workshops, such as the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P). Our parenting education will be provided in collaboration with organizations local parents already know and trust to optimize our reach and complement the parenting education already provided in Tompkins County. We hope this will strengthen the bond between parents and children of all ages to ensure healthy futures for Tompkins families.
Finally, to make sure we address those who need services the most, we will offer one-on-one services to both parents and teens. For parents specifically concerned about substance use, or for parents who don’t know where to start with parenting education, our educators can provide one-on-one parenting guidance to ensure we reach those who need it most. Furthermore, to comprehensively address youth substance use, we have partnered with Ithaca High School & LACS to accept referrals for Teen Intervene, a one-on-one substance use prevention program for teenagers identified as experimenting with or using substances. Our educators will also accept referrals from other youth providers, parents, and teens themselves.
This comprehensive, equity-focused strategy combines county-specific data with strong community partnerships. By addressing key risk factors, reinforcing protective family supports, and reaching youth at highest risk, RHI aims to create lasting, measurable change for Tompkins County youth and families. For more information or to connect with our Prevention Team, email prevention@nyrhi.org and check out our new SAFE365 campaign website at safe365ny.org.
Reference:
Tompkins BOCES. (2023). CLYDE Survey (Catalyst Insights, analyst). Tompkins BOCES.
