Prevention coordinator seeing positive impact

County Prevention Coordinator Travis Sylvester appeared before the county commissioners at their June 4 meeting.
Sylvester said progress is being made.
“These are taxpayers’ dollars. At the end of the day, we need to be responsible and judicious on how we utilize them,” he said. “You can see we are making strides. Especially our youth with alcohol use.”
He explained they are using “social norming” to emphasize kids aren’t “missing out.” They ask kids if they have consumed any alcohol in the last 30 days. Approximately 30% say they have. When asked if their friends have, 60% say yes.
“So, we have this giant delta here where kids think everybody is living a better, more crazy, fun life than they are,” Sylvester said. “The reality is most kids are making good choices.”
He cited a 10% reduction in alcohol use by youth in the last 10 years.
Vaping and tobacco use among youth is still a constant battle. Nicotine patches are becoming more popular. Sylvester said Big Horn County is the front runner in the state in trying to get ahead of patches becoming a problem.
Sylvester is still working on creatives for 988. He noted one area he would like to expand is suicide prevention resources for the ag community, including free counseling and financial support.  
OTHER BUSINESS
• Acting Big Horn County Engineer Matt Leonhart briefed the commissioners on a wastewater issue on Road 1.
• Facilities Manager Jeremy Pouska presented bids for repairing the courthouse roof and quotes for milling and paving the north courthouse parking lot.
• Airport and Land Planning updates were given by Paul Thur and Stephanie May. Thur confirmed there will be no drag races this year at the airport.