SAN MARCOS — The team behind a newly-established program is partnering with local school districts to help reduce the onset and progression of substance misuse — broadly opioids and, specifically, fentanyl — and its related consequences in Hays County.
The Fentanyl Education, Support Training and Awareness (FESTA) Program is a five-year, $1,872,567 grant funded through Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that was launched in the fall of 2024 in response to Tucker’s Law, which was established in 2023 to require Texas youth in public schools to receive the following: research-based instruction regarding suicide prevention; prevention of the use of and addiction to fentanyl; health education related to substance use; and then, awareness around resources for mental health and substance use services.
Kelly Clary, assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Texas State University, is the director of the FESTA project. While she is a social work professor, clinically, her practice and experience has been around mental health and substance use as a crisis social worker in Illinois before coming to Texas. That clinical experience, coupled with what has been happening in Hays County regarding fentanyl overdoses in the local youth really inspired this project, Clary said.
The FESTA team has partnered with Wimberley ISD and Dripping Springs ISD to help them fulfill the mandate through Tucker’s Law.
“We will be going into the classrooms … teaching the youth about fentanyl, about substance use, to raise that awareness [and] reduce the likelihood of those accidental fentanyl overdoses,” explained Clary. “That is one of our target populations, which is the students, the youth.”
Clary developed this project/program to help school districts have the resources they need to help reduce substance misuse amongst the local youth.
“Having the resources to create presentations can be potentially overwhelming and [school districts] don't always have the time and someone dedicated to do that. ... I am a mom, I have two girls, and anything that I can do to support youth around this topic, to reduce the likelihood of this happening — accidental fentanyl overdoses, substance misuse and addiction — is something that I'm very passionate about and motivated to do,” she explained. “All the pieces just aligned in the sense of, I'm at Texas State in San Marcos. I live in Hays County. My husband actually used to be a high school teacher at Hays CISD and then, he was at Dripping Springs, so seeing students in the community and having those connections, it just all made sense, especially with these recent accidental fentanyl overdoses that have happened in Hays County. I think all of those pieces just made sense for me to do this work and to support my community.”
For the education curriculum for WISD, Clary said her team will be implementing that at the end of April or early May 2025; as for DSISD, it will be in the fall or next spring. The target population is middle school and high school students, sixth through the 12th grade.
“Then, it will be annual implementation for the five years, and then at year four and five, we'll be doing Train the Trainer,” the project director said. “So, the trainings that we're going to be implementing, we'll be training teachers and faculty to then understand and know how to do that, so when the grant period officially ends in five years, we're not just leaving them hanging, like, they'll have that to implement on their own.”
A youth-licensed chemical dependency counselor through Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Centers will also be hired to serve part-time at WISD and DSISD.
As for Hays CISD, Clary explained that they have had conversations with the district since February 2024. While the district did not officially submit a letter of commitment during the grant, Clary’s team is still communicating with Hays CISD, they have already done things within the classroom and they are bringing them on board to do more regarding parents and teachers.
“We have some kind of collaborators that are also working with Hays CISD, so we're hoping that that will eventually happen. I think it's just a slow process. And the same thing for San Marcos CISD. We're hoping to bring them out as well because this grant focuses on Hays County,” Clary explained. “Any youth, sixth through 12th grade, any parent, any teacher, really anybody who lives in Hays County is eligible to participate in any of these activities, trainings and outreach that we put on.”
In addition to the local educational curriculum, the FESTA Program’s team will also be doing outreach and trainings for parents and caretakers. They have already done two Narcan trainings in the community with the goal to continue to do more.
There is also a community advisory board — which includes newly-elected Hays County Sheriff Anthony Hipolito, Texas ICON, Hill Country MHDD and Cenikor — who meet monthly to talk about what’s happening in the community and how to help with outreaches, presentations and curriculum.
To learn more about the FESTA program, visit festaprogram.wp.txstate.edu.
