{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://himes.house.gov/press-releases?ID=176742B0-208E-4874-8572-A908D786C00D", "Congressman Himes Announces $1.25 Million in Federal Grant Funding for Drug-Free Communities Support Programs", "2021-10-27", "2021", "2021-10", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "James A. Himes", "H001047", "himes.house.gov", "himes", "https://himes.house.gov/press-releases", "page_html", "Bridgeport, CT \u2014 Today, Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) announced that two community coalitions, the Community Fund of Darien\u2019s Thriving Youth Task Force and Fairfield Public Schools in partnership with Fairfield CARES, received Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program grants. Each will be awarded $625,000 over five years, totaling $1.25 million in funding to address local youth substance use.\n\n\u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has put a real strain on our kids,\u201d said Congressman Jim Himes. \u201cIt\u2019s sadly not surprising that the National Institute of Health found an increase in adolescents using nicotine products and misusing prescription drugs. That\u2019s why Drug-Free Communities Support Program and their partners\u2019 work is more important than ever. I look forward to working with these organizations to ensure they have the resources needed to keep our communities safe and healthy.\u201d\n\n\"The grant award is the culmination of many years of work and partnership with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Positive Directions of Westport, the Fairfield Public Schools, the Town of Fairfield, and the leadership team of the coalition\", said Philip Dwyer, Fairfield CARES Co-chair. \"This will allow Fairfield CARES to continue its focus on reducing alcohol and marijuana use among youth.\"\n\n\"Fairfield CARES has worked consistently over many years with Fairfield Public Schools, as well as parent and community volunteers, to help the coalition achieve its mission and benefit from this opportunity,\u201d said Mike Cummings, Superintendent of Schools and Co-chair of Fairfield CARES. \u201cThus Fairfield Public Schools was pleased to partner with CARES in this grant.\"\n\n\u201cThe Thriving Youth Task Force\u2019s programs will provide parents with critical information about how marijuana impacts the teen brain and strategies for keeping open lines of communication with their teen around all substance use,\u201d said Thriving Youth Program Director Emily Larkin.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://himes.house.gov/press-releases?ID=176742B0-208E-4874-8572-A908D786C00D"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8323551155626774, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}