Kent County – Rhode Island Regional Prevention Coalitions

Kent County Prevention Coalition

Coventry • East Greenwich • Exeter West Greenwich • Warwick • West Warwick

About Us

The Kent Prevention Coalition’s mission is to build a healthier community by preventing and reducing harmful substance use behaviors in Kent County, focusing on youth. The vision is to promote a healthier community for all by developing a substance abuse prevention system that fills gaps in services, prioritizes resources and reduces overlap.

We have incredibly committed members representing youth, parents, schools, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, law enforcement, Rotary, healthcare providers and more! Together, we work to put in place evidence based prevention programs and policies to help prevent and reduce youth substance use.

Check Out Our Latest PSAs!

We are so excited to bring back our It Starts With You Campaign! This campaign started 7 years ago and is being brought back with a new generation of kids! The message is the same: It still starts with you at home to talk and listen to your children. This was all possible due to a strong community partnership! Thank you to all who helped create this Cali Cranston PD Page, Cranston Substance Abuse Task Force, Kent County YMCA, RI Dept. of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals, Cranston, RI Police Department, Sky Sabin Productions LLC

When COVID 19 arrived prevented us from meeting in person, the coalitions quickly leaned into creative and innovative ways to get our messaging to parents and partners. We also knew how important connection is for all of us. So, we relied on the technology at hand and began what we thought might be a brief placeholder – a podcast. We checked in weekly with our prevention partners to see how they continued to deliver services. Our gratitude is too deep to express for the opportunity to work with such amazing individuals. The field of prevention is rich with talented, dedicated and committed folks who are working incredibly hard to make a difference in our communities.

Building Connections! - Podcast

New Episode:

Hidden in Plain Sight!

Hidden in Plain Sight allows parents a unique interactive opportunity to look into a teen’s mock bedroom. The room is full of common household items that could be used to hide or disguise drug, alcohol, tobacco use or other “risky” behaviors.

Please take the time to talk to your teen about the items you see – use this as a way to launch a conversation about substance use among peers. Check it out here!

Talk Early. Talk Often and Listen.

It could be as simple as talking early and talking often. The campaign is organized to educate and empower parents and caregivers to have ongoing conversations with the young people in their lives around drugs and alcohol.

Thanks to Dr. Paul Mangino, Jr, his daughter Sofia, Maureen Gouveia and Izzy Boullier – all coalition members! Credit to SkySabin productions

#Stay In Your Lane!

Our Coventry Task Force Leaders, Dana Daverna and Katelyn Bianco, worked to create this amazing PSA reminding youth about the risks of impaired driving.

Big shout out to the cool folks at Gnarly Bay! for this gem!