The East Bay has received immediate benefit from the creation of a new regional substance abuse task force model created by the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals. 

The regionalization allows the East Bay — Barrington (The BAY Team), Bristol, Warren and East Providence — to be one of the regions to use a portion of the $1.4 million federal block grant funding for programming and support. 

"I've seen the power of collaboration at the regional scale through my participation in the coalition. Rather than operating in our own silos, we're exchanging ideas, sharing resources and building momentum toward real solutions," said Cindy Elder, executive director, National Alliance for Mental Illness of Rhode Island (NAMI RI). "We have wide range of backgrounds, but we all want to see better prevention and mental health services in our communities."
Immediate highlights and benefits of regionalization for the East Bay include: 

• Better communication – sharing of ideas and events

• Events are better publicized and attended by regional community members, such as the recent Mental Health First-Aid training through Bristol Health Equity Zone

• Prescription drug take-backs in the region have stronger coordination

• More collaboration – maximize impact with cross sharing

• Parenting books that are traditionally distributed in Barrington (i.e., How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid) were distributed at all sixth-grade open houses throughout the region

• East Bay Youth Tobacco Council — a group of students from each town in the region worked to educate decision-makers on effective policies to reduce youth access to tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes

More funding

In addition to the overall annual regional budget of almost $137,000, there was an infusion of $116,000 during summer 2017. 

This is especially significant as the state budget does not currently provide any funding for substance abuse prevention, so coalitions rely on federal and private grants, donations, and other sources of funding. 

Most towns do not fund prevention either, but may offer in-kind funding, such as office space and other support. The funding helped to provide for the following: 

• Statewide media campaign – marijuana messaging around workforce, addiction, edibles and local control of marijuana retail sales

• Regional media campaign – Parenting is Prevention video series on YouTube to give parents the foundation for prevention and wellness promotion

• Middle School YMCA youth events — throughout the year with opportunities for service projects. The next event is a battle of the bands (Dec. 16, from 7 to 9:30 p.m.)

• Funding for municipal police — conduct patrols on high-risk nights and check retailers for alcohol compliance

• Data collection — regional needs assessment, parent and teacher surveys

• Website development — www.riprevention.org

• Life of an Athlete first-aid kits — distributed to regional sports teams

• Welcome bags — Roger Williams University students

• Additional $34,000 — for combatting the opioid epidemic in the region

“The East Bay region will now be able to look at wellness from a total lifespan perspective and meet the real needs of its residents,” said Tricia Driscoll, operations director at Bayside Family YMCA. “Providing a deeper understanding of our stressors, challenges and mental health implications will help drive decisions on programming based on our root causes and allow us to better leverage our resources to make a heightened difference across each age group.”