A new initiative aims to address the secondary effects of the opioid epidemic on children. The program expects to reach around 600 kids across Indiana, including here in the Evansville area.
The project's goal is to train mentors to support children living in homes with people addicted to opioids.
The Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) has been awarded $1.25 million for the project.
President and CEO Tami Silverman says the idea came from school teachers.
"They were seeing children who were coming to school and they were tired, that perhaps they were not getting the nutrition they needed, their bedtime routines were disrupted, perhaps they weren’t getting the support with homework that they needed," she says.
IYI will partner with three organizations across the state, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Indiana, to run the program.
The Hoosier state was one of six selected for the grant. The program will last three years.