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Injecting heroin

‘It Could Be Their Kid’: Opioid Epidemic Panel Set for Next Wednesday

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Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said authorities know there’s heroin in New Canaan, though it isn’t clear just how widespread abuse of the opioid is. One priority of the New Canaan Police Department in 2016 is to reduce the availability of narcotics (and alcohol, to underage people) in town, and that effort will come through enforcement as well as education, according to the chief. “We know for certain that multiple people that grew up here, were educated here and have moved to other places have overdosed on heroin and died in the past couple of years,” Krolikowski said. “So that is our focus and our big concern.”

As it is for the entire community. Next week, a venerable nonprofit organization is taking the lead to open up the often touchy subject of opioid use and abuse to the wider community.

Around Town

‘We Never Want To Say No’: State Eliminates Funding for Kids In Crisis, Jeopardizing Services

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One day after school last week, a New Canaan teen phoned the Kids In Crisis 24/7 hotline because a friend here in town appeared to be suicidal. Familiar with Kids In Crisis because of its TeenTalk program at New Canaan High School, the adolescent connected with caseworker (and TeenTalk counselor) Ed Milton. Within minutes, he met with the troubled youth, performed a full assessment, secured a psychiatric evaluation and resolved the issue by referring to an outside agency. The interaction between a New Canaan teen and Milton—a fixture at NCHS who has earned his position as a trusted adult for scores of local adolescents, such as the friend in this case, by connecting and engaging with them—emerges far more frequently than locals may know. Through TeenTalk last academic year, Milton served 149 NCHS students in individual counseling sessions, according to Kids In Crisis, and cases can touch on everything from family conflict and domestic violence to depression, alcohol and substance abuse, peer and social issues such as bullying, divorce, depression, stress, anxiety and suicide—sometimes resulting in youths spending a night in a bed at the organization’s Greenwich campus (families to this point have not been charged for the service, as the state has been helping by paying a per diem—more on that below).

News

Campus Sexual Assault Safety Tips Highlighted at New Canaan Briefing

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High school students set to leave for college in the fall on Monday received expert counsel on ways to stay safe in the face of sexual assault. At the second annual “Know Before You Go” press conference, New Canaan’s rising college freshman were advised on precautions that need to be taken as they set out on their own. Margie Hahn, a New Canaan resident and rising Junior at Villanova University, provided these important tips on what every college student should know at the briefing, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department:

Supportive friends that you feel safe approaching when you are in an uncomfortable situation. Easy access to the phone number of a school counselor, as well as your RA (Room Advisor). A safe word. Margie stated that she has a “safe word” with both her parents and her friends that acts as an “SOS” signal that she could discretely text to them if in trouble.

Around Town

Staying Safe: New Canaan Experts Address Sexual Assault on College Campuses

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. Here are three tips that New Canaan’s Margie Hahn, a Villanova University student, says every rising college freshman from town should keep in his or her back pocket:

Find and familiarize yourself with on-campus resources. Identify someone whom you feel comfortable talking to. Surround yourself with people that you respect and rely on who will be there for you and help you out. Margie also noted how much pride she feels seeing New Canaan’s adamant support for giving students the tools and knowledge they need before going off to college.