Author: Brian Leefeldt

This Venn diagram serves as a visualization of reported past year substance use, highlighting polysubstance use, among Delaware 11th grade students. Thirty-seven percent of students reported using at least one substance in the past year. This information was collected through the Delaware School Survey and the product was developed using DeepVenn™. 

A community response briefing was hosted on Friday, June 2 by Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long and leaders from the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), Department of Education (DOE), and Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families (DSCYF) to provide information on the state’s efforts to address youth substance use. Dr. Rochelle Brittingham, PI on the state’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey at CDHS, spoke about youth reported opioid use and risk perception while other agency speakers highlighted coordination of schools and community partners to bring innovative outreach and educational programs throughout the state. Delaware Officials Provide Latest Updates, Underscore Urgency Surrounding Youth, Opioids, and Prevention Programs

Dr. Brittingham was also recently quoted in the Delaware News Journal regarding YRBS data and youth substance use. Why Delaware believes schools, parents are key to preventing more overdoses among kids

CDHS held two presentations at the Delaware Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Integration Summit on May 22nd. The event, funded by a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant, brought behavioral health and criminal justice system professionals together to collaborate and learn about cross-system approaches to treating justice involved individuals and families impacted by substance use, mental health, and trauma. Researchers David Borton, Meisje Scales, Darryl Chambers, along with DSAMH colleague Kris Fraser, presented “Criminal Justice and Substance Use: A Data-Driven Overview of the Delaware Landscape.” Researchers Dr. Ellen Donnelly and Dr. Dan O’Connell, along with Benjamin Griffith of DSAMH, NaTascha Huges of RI International, and Colleen Kearns of the New Castle County Police presented “But I need it now! Overcoming communication barriers between entities in police diversion practice.”

Using Delaware School Survey data, the authors explore perceptions of safety among Delaware public school students after three school shooting events: Columbine (1999), Virginia Tech (2007), and Stoneman Douglas (2018).

Click here to read “Differences in Perception of Safety Before and After School Shootings: A Multi-Event Analysis” published in the Journal of School Violence.

The Prison Research Innovation Network (PRIN) is an evidence-based approach to prison reform. Delaware is one of five states working to advance a national movement of leaders committed to redefining the corrections profession and supporting ongoing prison reform efforts.

Click here to read to learn about the PRIN Project at CDHS.

Click here to read “Participatory Action Research in a Pandemic: Prison Climates During COVID-19”

The Delaware 2022 Epidemiological Profile Report – Substance Use, Mental Health, and Related Issues

The 2022 Profile includes updated Delaware and national data from 40 sources such as the Delaware School Survey, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Systems, Youth Risk Behavior Survey,  and the National Survey on Children’s Health, among others. Additional chapters cover mental health and wellness, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), pre-natal substance exposure, LGBQ and T youth, and protective factors. Each chapter includes a narrative to provide context for the data presentation and “Data in Action” sections to illustrate how the data can be used to inform prevention planning, policy, and programs. The report is also downloadable by chapters. For highlights, please see the Executive Summary. The report is also accompanied by a series of related infographics.

This study explored reasons for discharge from publicly-funded SUD treatment in Delaware with special attention to populations at risk for health inequities, and a focus on covariates of treatment non-completion.

Click here to read the recently published article “Disparities in Substance Use Treatment Retention: An Exploration of Reasons for Discharge from Publicly Funded Treatment” in the Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse.

Funded by the State Opioid Response (SOR) project, a Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant.

CDHS Research Associate Darryl Chambers has been awarded the Noam Chomsky Award from the Justice Studies Association. This award, in honor of famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and philosopher Noam Chomsky, recognizes someone who reflects Chomsky’s dedication to human rights and human well-being issues, including free speech and mass media, and also recognizes someone who inspires others through commitment to scholarly and intellectual activities related to justice.

“The Justice Studies Association is an active, growing international community of progressive academics, activists, artists, researchers and practitioners working in all areas of social, criminal, transformative, and restorative justice.”  https://www.justicestudies.org/

​CDHS releases the first in a series infographics on Gender-Based Violence presenting longitudinal Delaware data related to the victimization and perpetration of gender-based violence.  Future topics will include adult economic justice, mental health, and others.

GBV – Primer

GBV – Key Terms

GBV – Adult Economic Factors

This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Rape Prevention & Education Grant # 5 NUF2CE002506-03-00 and by the Delaware Department of Public Health.

​The Center for Drug and Health Studies’s (CDHS) Laura Rapp, scientist, and Meisje Scales, research associate, were recently highlighted in an article about their role in the Delaware Community Well-Being Initiative. This partnership between several partners is designed to enhance the wellbeing of Delaware Communities as part of an over $1 million contract from the Delaware, Department of Health and Social Services and the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH).

Click here to read the article about the project and CDHS’s role in this initiative