Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. It’s back-to-school season again. Parents and other caregivers are focused on ensuring their children start the year off successfully – encouraging everything from good studying and homework habits to participation on athletic teams or in other extracurricular activities. But are we focusing enough attention on our children’s safety, especially when it comes to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs – including access to prescription medications? A recent study published in JAMA Surgery found that 67% to 92% of adult patients who are prescribed opioid painkillers following surgery do not take all of their medication and do not dispose […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. As part of our effort to prevent substance misuse among young people, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation today announced a $1.15 million investment to help 29 Marion County K-12 schools implement drug prevention programs. The five grant recipients are the Metropolitan School Districts (MSD) of Warren and Washington Townships and public charter schools Urban ACT Academy, Ignite Achievement Academy and Indianapolis Academy of Excellence. These grants are part of our Prevention Matters initiative, which the Foundation launched in January 2018 as a three-year effort to help Marion County schools identify, implement and sustain evidence-based substance use prevention programs. The […]