Commission discusses drug prevention |

The Arizona Parents Commission on Drug Education and Prevention met on September 18 to discuss various topics related to the importance of drug education.

The commission, which operates under the Governor's Office of Youth, Faith and Family, was created in 1996 on the initiative of a voter and aims to fund programs that educate community members about the risks of substance abuse and increase parental involvement.

The Parents Commission Grant, administered by the Commission, is awarded to programs and initiatives that focus on educating the public about the risks of substance abuse.

Denise Beagley, chair of the commission, chaired the meeting. Several guest speakers discussed issues related to drug prevention in Arizona, a state that has nearly 800 opioid-related deaths in 2024, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Other topics covered during the session included the state of the Arizona Health Care Costs Containment System (AHCCS), Arizona's Medicaid system, and its role in drug prevention in Arizona, the DEA's role in educating the community about drug prevention, and an overview of Hushabye Nursery, a nonprofit organization that helps parents and young children with drug withdrawal issues and receives funding from the Parents Commission Grant.

Alisa Randall, AHCCCS's deputy director of clinical operations, who oversees the organization's mental health crisis system and network, presented on AHCCCS's work on its mental health crisis systems, which include 24/7 mobile teams and phone lines for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises.

AHCCCS also focuses on education, stigma reduction and harm reduction, Randall explained.

“Stigma reduction and education are really important components to making sure people have access to care and feel comfortable doing so,” Randall said.

Reducing stigma, she continued, helps “give drug users the opportunity to live healthier, more self-determined and meaningful lives.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is also involved in drug prevention and education. Staff Sgt. Deb Stoks of the Arizona National Guard's CounterDrug Task Force described the DEA's education programs.

These initiatives include Operation Engage, in which the DEA goes into high-risk communities and works as a short-term coalition with community members, agencies and schools to increase prevention efforts. Other initiatives include the Citizens' Academy, a week-long training program, and a Family Summit, which focuses on parents and family members of people who have died from overdoses.

“We hear their voices,” Stoks said of the summit. “That's what we're giving them, the opportunity to be heard, and we also want them to know that we're trying, that we're very committed to the community.”

The final speaker of the meeting was Shauna Anderson, Director of Public Relations for Hushabye Nursery. Hushabye Nursery is a nonprofit organization that provides support groups, residential care, and outpatient therapy for parents and young children struggling with drug use and withdrawal.

Hushabye Nursery in Phoenix was a subrecipient of the Parents Commission Grant because of its work supporting women who become pregnant despite opioid use and infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, which occurs when babies are exposed to certain drugs in the womb and require special care.

“Many parents describe withdrawal as a thousand times worse than the worst flu and migraine they've ever had,” Anderson said. “And that's exactly what these little ones are going through.”

Hushabye Nursery opened in November 2020 and has since served 1,700 parents and more than 850 toddlers, according to Anderson.

According to GOYFF program administrator Tori Osmundson, the commission is reviewing the Parents Commission Grant annual report and their next meeting will be in November, where they will discuss an overview of the grant recipients.