SEPTEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER | | Connecticut Clearinghouse is a library and resource center for information on substance use and mental health disorders, prevention, health promotion and wellness, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, and other related topics. | | UPCOMING EVENTS AND TRAININGS | | | |  | This in-person session will take a closer look at how student well-being, family involvement, and school support all work together. Aimed at all educators, families, and school leaders, we’ll explore how teaming up across home and school can boost mental health, help students stay safe, and support learning. | We’ll talk about how schools, families, and communities can work together to improve student mental health, reduce risky choices, and help kids succeed in school. | You’ll walk away with simple, practical ideas to build stronger connections between educators and families—and create a more supportive space for all students. | | | | | | Research shows that communities of color, including the Latine community, are disproportionately impacted by problem gambling, yet underrepresented in access to prevention, intervention, treatment, recovery supports, and research. | Utilizing an equity lens, this training will create awareness about the cultural characteristics amongst Latine individuals and their families, in an effort to improve engagement and partnerships that can promote access to problem gambling prevention, treatment, and recovery programs; increase trauma-informed programming; and address the Structural Determinants of Health (SDOH) and inequities, resulting in increased quality of life. |
| | | | | Join us on September 29th for Mental Health First Aid. Improve quality of life and learn how to assist and support adults who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge by getting certified in an evidence-based, early intervention training program. | Learn how to respond with the Mental Health First Aid Action Plan (ALGEE): | Assess for risk of suicide or harm. | Give reassurance and information. | Encourage appropriate professional help. | Encourage self-help and other support strategies | Please note: this is an in-person training. | | | New Books Available Soon at Connecticut Clearinghouse | | CONTESTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH | | Teen Change Maker Essay Contest - International Bipolar Foundation | | Essays should be between 500 and 1,000 words but will not be penalized for surpassing the word count if the content is deemed an essential part of your message. | | 2025 Red Ribbon Week Campus Video PSA Contest | | Create and submit a 30- to 60-second video PSA showcasing your campus’s commitment to a healthy, drug-free lifestyle | | Teens and young adults, create comics that tell stories about beauty standards and health! | | The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) is sponsoring the Beauty + Health: Youth Graphic Medicine Challenge. | This Challenge encourages teens (ages 13–17) and young adults (ages 18–25) to share their experiences about ways to reduce health risks from certain beauty products and behaviors that people use or follow to meet societal beauty standards. | | HEALTH OBSERVANCES AND EVENTS | | Suicide Prevention Awareness Month | |
| | Suicide Prevention Awareness Month | Connecting individuals and communities to the right support can make all the difference. Learn the warning signs, normalize help-seeking, and let people know there are proven treatments that work. | | | | Suicide Prevention Video Series | | The Lethal Means Awareness Committee in collaboration with the Education and Advocacy Committee of the Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board (CTSAB) developed a library of short videos with individual messages of suicide prevention. | A goal of this project is to reduce stigma by showing people who are willing to talk about suicide. | The videos were recorded at the May 2024 Inspiring Hope: Coming Together for Suicide Prevention conference. | | | | | Select Resources available at Connecticut Clearinghouse | |
| | September is Recovery Month, a time to promote and support evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the nation’s strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery possible. | | | | Select Resources available at Connecticut Clearinghouse | |
| | Hispanic Heritage Month is a month-long celebration of Hispanic and Latino history and culture. | From September 15 to October 15 we give extra recognition to the many contributions made to the history and culture of the United States. | | | | Select Spanish Language Resources available at Connecticut Clearinghouse | |
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Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024
In an analysis by race, sex, age, and geography, alcohol-induced death rates in 2024 are nearly double those in 1999, with a sharp increase at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although rates are higher for men, the largest increase in alcohol-induced deaths over the full 25-year period occurred in females aged 25-34, according to a study published on September 17 by Dr. Tony Wong and colleagues at UCLA in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health. (Source: EurekAlert).
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| | Moms and Dads Can Help Children with Social Anxiety Disorder | It’s common for adolescents to feel nervous or shy around others. But how their parents treat them may help ease or worsen their social anxiety. | Researchers at the University of Georgia found that both mothers and fathers influence their children’s social confidence in important but different ways. | | | | TRAININGS FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES OR COLLEGE STUDENTS | |
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Staff at the Connecticut Center for Prevention, Wellness and Recovery are available to provide ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) , A-SBIRT (Adolescent Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment), Mental Health First Aid, QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer Suicide Prevention), SMART Recovery and other trainings to your employees, volunteers or college students. We can travel to your location, or schedule a training in our conference room. | | | | |
Contact Connecticut Clearinghouse to order pamphlets & posters, borrow books, ebooks, curricula or DVDs.
We offer mail or pick up. Call 800.232.4424 or 860.793.9791.
Click here to order online.
Click here to download Fact Sheets.
Browse our Library Materials here
| | | Visit Connecticut Clearinghouse in-person at 334 Farmington Avenue in Plainville, CT. | We are open Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. | Can't make it in? We offer our library materials via interlibrary loan. Check with your public library to see if they participate. Note for libraries: our deliverIT Route is D-152, c/o Plainville Public Library. Please write "Connecticut Clearinghouse at Wheeler" in the Remarks on the slip. | | | Click Here if you would like to update your email address or have a colleague subscribe. | | |
Connecticut Clearinghouse is funded by the Connecticut Department
of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
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