SAFE Glen Cove Coalition: Opioid Prevention Youth Focus Group

The SAFE Glen Cove Coalition is conducting an opioid prevention awareness campaign entitled, "Keeping Glen Cove SAFE," in order to educate and update the community regarding opioid use and its consequences.

Empirical evidence suggests that peer education is efficacious in changing adolescent risk behaviors and peer education is an important part of prevention. It is necessary to engage youth regarding the harms of substance abuse, especially now given the nation’s opioid epidemic. Most abusers start at a young age therefore early prevention education is critical.

The Coalition’s Youth Focus Group meets the second Monday of every month at 6:30pm to 7:30pm at Trinity Lutheran Church. The group is facilitated by SAFE bilingual outreach worker Laurent Caballero and SAFE Social Worker Nicole Giordano. Last week’s group engaged youth in a substance abuse prevention Jeopardy game whereby youth were given substance use scenarios and had to guess what drug was being discussed.

The Youth Focus Group is open to Glen Cove Youth from ages as young as 10 to as old as 20. Group topics are chosen from within and plans are in place to conduct an opioid awareness presentation by the focus group members to Youth Bureau After 3 students enrolled in SAFE’s Life Skills Training program.

For any additional information please contact SAFE at 516-676-2008.

A sub-committee of the Coalition was formed to address peer education within the religious community. Members include Pastor Travis Yee, Trinity Lutheran Church, Rabbi Irwin Huberman, Congregation Tifereth Israel, Brenda Lopez, Ciudad de Refugio, Reverend William Wendler United Methodist Church and Coalition members Deputy Mayor Maureen Basdavanos and SAFE Executive Director, Dr. Sharon Harris.

To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencove or visit SAFE’s website to learn more about the opioid epidemic at www.safeglencove.org.