What costs Wisconsin government and residents close to $4 billion a year and could be totally avoided?

Binge drinking, which costs the government $1.6 billion a year and each resident $666 annually.

Those grim figures were tallied by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in its August report, the "Burden of Binge Drinking in Wisconsin." The study defines binge drinking as five or more drinks per occasion for men and four drinks or more for women.

An estimated 24% of Wisconsinites binge drink, compared to the national median of 16%, and on average they had 4.1 binge drinking episodes per month. That put Wisconsin at #2 in the nation for binge drinking.

"The results of this study show a staggering economic impact to the state," the authors write. "It has been shown that the economic impact of excessive alcohol consumption is comparable to that of other health-risk behaviors, such as smoking and physical inactivity."

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Roughly 20% of Wisconsin high school students currently vape, a habit that seems to be increasingly dangerous to their health. To help educators cope with the e-cigarette epidemic, Governor Tony Evers, Department of Health Services Secretary-Designee Andrea Palm, and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Carolyn Stanford Taylor have created a resource guide for educators. You can download it here.

The 27th Street West Drug Free Coalition has received a SAMHSA Communities Talk Town Hall Grant, which has empowered them to bring together teens from across Milwaukee to learn about the brain science behind substance use disorders and alcohol use. The panel "Speak Inspire Produce for Healthier Communities" (SIP) will encourage open and honest conversations surround the stressors that Milwaukee teens face and how these factors, along with boredom, misinformation, and lack of access to resources, can lead to teen alcohol use. The coalition is in search of three teens who are interested in sharing and discussing their lived experience as it relates to alcohol to be panelists. The SIP panel will be held on Friday, December 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Neighborhood House, 2810 W. Richardson Place, Milwaukee. Contact Zoe Whorrall at 414-345-7258 for more information.

Following the panel discussion, a prevention-focused lock-in will be held at Neighborhood House from 8 p.m. on December 20 to 8 a.m. on December 21, which will bring youth from various agencies together to learn more about drugs, alcohol, each other, and themselves...all while having a great time. The organizers hope to have 100 6th-12th graders, specifically from youth-serving agencies in Milwaukee. They are looking for agencies to bring 5 to 10 youth with one or two adults present. Please sign up at this link . Contact Zoe Whorrall at 414-345-7258 for more information.

The Wisconsin Population Health Service Fellowship Program is a two-year service and training program designed for early career individuals in public health and allied sciences. Fellows are placed in practice-based settings in community, non-profit, governmental, and/or health service organizations around Wisconsin. Through a curriculum focused on health equity and collaborative leadership, Fellows leave the program with a health equity lens applied to their practice as well as tangible skills in public health programming and management. Application deadline is January 6, 2020. Get details on the Fellowship’s website .

Milwaukee Turners' program "Confronting Mass Incarceration" (CMI), in collaboration with Marquette University, UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and MATC, have organized a no-cost series of panel discussions to move community conversation forward on confronting the broken criminal justice system in Wisconsin. As of 2018, the state has more than 23,000 incarcerated individuals, a record high. Upcoming programs are:

The Alliance for Wisconsin Youth is presenting this intensive two-day training for coalition coordinators with breakout sessions on specific substances, prevention CEUs, and Comedy Sportz. It’ll be held at the Milwaukee Sheraton-Brookfield on March 25 and 26, 2020. Contact Jazzmyne Adams with questions at [email protected].

The signs of crisis are all around us. How do you approach youth and adults who are showing signs that they want to die? You need to ask questions, persuade them to have a conversation, and refer them to professionals who can help. After this training, you will be able to reduce suicidal behaviors by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention techniques. It will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on November 19 at Community Advocates Training Center, 6900 W. Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee. This training is sponsored by ReCast MKE through the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention in partnership with Community Advocates Public Policy Institute . RSVPs are required for this free community event. Please RSVP now at this link .

Pathfinders’ staff, youth, and families are welcome to share a Thanks Giving meal from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20, at 4200 N. Holton St., Suite 400. Want to support this great community? Pathfinders welcomes donations of traditional holiday food. Contact them at 414-964-2565 or [email protected].

This is a tabletop game experience that builds an understanding of the powerful role of experiences on early brain development. If your organization or community is embarking on a conversation about adverse childhood experiences, toxic stress, or other early childhood issues, The Brain Architecture Game can be a valuable resource for creating a common understanding of and a common language about these topics. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on November 21 at the Timbers Building, 700 W. Virginia St., Milwaukee. This free community event requires registration. Please RSVP at this link . This training is sponsored by ReCast MKE through the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention in partnership with Community Advocates Public Policy Institute .

The HOME Kits event will provide home essentials to young people exiting or who have exited foster care between the ages of 18-23 and are meant for young people who have recently moved or will be moving to a new home. The H.O.M.E (Helping Obtain Moving Essentials) Kits will include: bed in bag, pots and pans set, plates and bowls set, silverware, kitchen cleaning products, kitchen utensils, bathroom cleaning supplies, and more! Must be present for the entire event to receive a kit. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 21, at Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, 1110 N. Market St., Second Floor, Milwaukee. Registration is required here for this free event . Email Jameelah A. Love at [email protected] with any questions.

Sustaining positive prevention outcomes and the processes used to reach them takes planning. This day-long, in-person training offers participants a unique opportunity to engage first-hand in a comprehensive sustainability planning process. It will be held on Tuesday, December 3, at UW-Eau Claire. Register here for this free training. It’s brought to you by the Great Lakes PTTC .

MHA of Wisconsin’s annual meeting and community awards luncheon will feature Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee Executive Director Pardeep Kaleka as keynote speaker and will present awards to local advocates. It’ll be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on December 4 at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., Milwaukee. Tickets are $40 per person but sponsorship opportunities are available. Register here.

The Coalition on Lead Emergency invites you to this free resource fair, which will provide youth and parents with information on programs, services, and employment opportunities for youth and young adults ages 16-24 in Milwaukee. It will be held on Saturday, December 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at COA Goldin Center, 2320 W. Burleigh St., Milwaukee and is brought to you by the Coalition on Lead Emergency (COLE), Community Advocates Public Policy Institute , COA Youth & Family Centers , and MICAH . Interested in being a vendor? Download the application today!

Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a statewide educational, teleECHO initiative that connects clinical experts with primary care providers and medication assisted treatment prescribers across Wisconsin in an effort to reduce substance-related complications. This one-hour webinar will cover the history of the Project ECHO tele-educational model, and the University of Wisconsin Project ECHO ACCEPT for substance use disorders and related complications. It will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. on Friday, November 22, and is provided by the Great Lakes ATTC . Register here .

Mental Health America (MHA) is recognizing November as National Family Caregivers Month with a toolkit to help caregivers strengthen relationships with their loved ones with mental illness through materials that educate and empower.