Office of Children’s Mental Health Focuses on Preventing Underage Drinking with New Fact Sheet

Office of Children’s Mental Health Director Linda Hall today announces the publication of a new fact sheet detailing how to support our children’s well-being through preventing underage drinking. While youth in Wisconsin are drinking less, they are still drinking more than youth in other states. Peer pressure, the ease in which youth can obtain alcohol, as well as advertising in the community may encourage unhealthy drinking behaviors.
Highlights include:
• Using alcohol at an early age can lead to negative health outcomes that in turn can lead to, or worsen, symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Youth tend to binge drink more than adults, which can interfere with normal brain development.
• In Wisconsin, only 36% of kids think it’s risky for them to have 5 or more drinks a couple times a week.
• Having short, frequent, casual conversations with young children and throughout adolescence is one of the best interventions for parents to prevent underage drinking.
See the complete fact sheet

Taking Care of Your Well-being

TIPS FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING, QUARANTINE, AND ISOLATION DURING AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAK

This time of social isolation can be incredibly difficult for us and those we love. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) offers this excellent review of what to expect during this time and how to mitigate the stress of social isolation.

Update from Health Department

Per the Forest County Health Department website, the following Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) order is now in effect:

Under the authority of Wisconsin State Statute § 252.02(3) and at the direction of Governor Tony Evers, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm has ordered a statewide moratorium on mass gatherings of 50 or more people to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

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CCFC Mission in regards to CO VID-19

As Forest County leaders and citizens begin to, and continue to, coordinate responses to the CO-VID 19 pandemic, it is important that Forest County residents have access to correct and trust-worthy information.

The Community Coalition of Forest County is a partnership of county leaders that includes the school districts of Wabeno, Crandon and Laona, the county Health Department, the Forest County Potawatomi community, the Sokaogon Chippewa community, UW-Madison Extension, the Sheriff’s department, the Social Services Department, the Department on Aging, faith-based organizations, county food pantries, as well as regional and state-wide agencies.

Per our mission to inform and engage all age groups and cultures in Forest County, the Community Coalition website and Facebook page will offer trusted and up-to-date information on community resources, childcare needs, government communications, essential updates and contact information.

Please share this information widely and ‘Like’ the Community Coalition on Facebook. It is our intention that by offering this key information to the public, we can offer a sense of understanding and well-being to those that need it.

Please send any up-dates, closure information, comments, questions or concerns to michelle.gobert@wisc.edu

Community Coalition of Forest County Interest Survey

The Community Coalition of Forest County recently surveyed Forest County middle and high school youth regarding prevention efforts in our county. The youth we surveyed responded that they are looking for role models and to participate in positive healthy activities in our area.

As part of our efforts to address those requests, our Coalition has hired Vive18 to present to the three local high schools on April 8, 2020. VIVE18 is a peer lead sustainable prevention program for teens, giving them skills to promote positive sober events in their communities. The Community Coalition of Forest County has secured $1500 in donations/grants from Conway True Value to offer mini-grants to middle and high school age county residents planning activities/events that will be distributed after the presentation.

The Community Coalition will need adult volunteers willing to work with the youth on the VIVE18 events; however, we are expanding our reach in order to build a base of volunteers and mentors that can be contacted to build/create/participate/promote youth activities across the county. This may range from one-on-one or group activities.

We know that our county residents have hidden talents, hobbies and interests to share.  We hope to find out what those are so that we can reach out to individuals when we have a need for assistance with event planning that will promote life-long learning and enhance the quality of life for Forest County residents.

Give us your talents, passions and interests and we’ll help you find a place to share them!

NATIONAL PREVENTION WEEK 2019

The Community Coalition of Forest County would like to invite you to celebrate National Prevention Week (May 12th-19th) with a parade hosted on Crandon Main Street at noon on Saturday, May 18th. Directly following the parade will be a cook-out at the Crandon Community Building featuring
music, speakers, and children’s games.


National Prevention Week is brought to us by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), who sponsors a national campaign that takes place annually. This year’s theme is “Inspiring Action Changing Lives”. This event will raise awareness of the types of services available for Alcohol and Other Drugs (AODA) and educate community members of the ongoing efforts that are taking place to prevent substance abuse and mental health illness.

This a community wide endeavor, involving all three school districts. The schools are invited to participate in the parade, along with their pep bands. Also in attendance will be representatives of both the Potawatomi and Sokaogon Chippewa tribes. We are encouraging business owners, to participate not only to show support for a substance-free lifestyle but also to advertise their businesses as promotors of a better Forest County. A healthy community is very attractive to area visitors and encourages our youth to stay in the area or return here after they graduate from college.

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Wabeno Area Players to offer Written Off screening

Please join the Wabeno Area Players on Thursday, April 4th, 2019 for a community screening of the documentary “Written Off”. The event will be held at the Nancy Volk Auditorium in the Wabeno Area High School. The Forest County Healthy Department will also offer a Mock Teen Bedroom display beginning at 5:30 p.m. for those 18 and older. A discussion panel will be available after the screening. The documentary is free and open to the entire community.

The film tells a gripping tale and challenges stigma. In 2016 more Americans died from overdoses than in the entire Vietnam War conflict. And yet those new casualties are rarely considered victims of disease.

The film chronicles the life of Matthew Edwards, a Crandon High School graduate, whose addiction to opioids began at age 15, after being prescribed pain medicine for minor surgery. His grippingly honest writing reveals the secrets he tried so hard to conceal throughout a decade long struggle to escape addiction. Matthew’s mother, Jane Funk, currently a teacher at Crandon High School, published the book What I Couldn’t Tell you: one Man’s Struggle with Opioid Addiction in June of 2017 and worked with filmmakers Molly Hermann and Rob Lyall on the “Written Off” documentary.