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9-27-2026 1:03am
Westwood Awarded $625,000 Federal Grant to Fund New Substance Use Prevention Coordinator
Darlene Cancell
Editor
The Town of Westwood and Westwood Cares have been awarded a federal grant of $625,000 that will go toward establishing a new, full-time position for a substance use prevention coordinator in the Westwood Health Department, announced the town on September 22.
This is the first such grant award obtained by Westwood’s Health Department, said Westwood Health Director Jared Orsini, who said he was the first in town to learn about the award.
“I got an email and it was an announcement from the drug free program,” he said. He described how he slowly opened and read the email to ensure he was reading it correctly. He said he initially experienced disbelief before he shared the good news in a group chat with those who had worked together to achieve the grant.
“I was happy and excited to tell everyone. Then I got nervous, thinking of the big undertaking,” he said. “We worked so hard to get it, and didn’t think we were going to get it.” Mr. Orsini noted that very few first-time applicants are successful in what he called a highly competitive grant process.
Westwood was one of only five communities in Massachusetts to receive the award in July. An additional round of funding was awarded to four more Massachusetts communities and other communities around the country in September. Nationwide, communities received about $66 million in DFC awards, according to the White House.
The new substance use prevention coordinator will be tasked with embedding in the community and listening, said Mr. Orsini. Those discussions will inform the coordinator what direction to pursue, through an approach that is bottom-up rather than top-down, he said.
The coordinator's tasks include leading youth substance use prevention initiatives and developing partnerships between public safety, schools, healthcare providers, youth organizations, and volunteers. The coordinator will facilitate meetings, events, and data collection and will be charged with raising public awareness and connecting Westwood community members to substance use assessment, treatment, and recovery services.
The coordinator will also manage Westwood Cares - a coalition with a goal to reduce and prevent youth substance use. Westwood Cares members are made up of youth, parents, schools, law enforcement, healthcare, businesses, civic groups, faith communities, media, youth-serving organizations, municipal leadership, and other partners.
In 2023, Westwood Health Department conducted the first of two substance use surveys of middle school and high school students in Westwood. The department's thinking at the time was that, along with being useful for other purposes, the surveys would be required to establish the need for the grant, said Mr. Orsini. The second survey was conducted in 2025.
The Health Department worked with Westwood Public Schools (WPS) Superintendent Timothy Piwowar, the WPS wellness coordinator, and MassCALL 3 Prevention Partners to complete the survey. The surveys measured the use of different substances, and based on their findings, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol will be targeted as key areas of concern, according to Mr. Orsini.
Westwood first applied for the grant 18 months before receiving the award in July. The application involved the efforts of Westwood Cares members, as well as town and public school leaders, public safety partners, youth organizations, community volunteers, and regional partners in the Norfolk County-8 Public Health Coalition.
Mr. Orsini noted that Danielle Sutton, Westwood’s director of human services, first contacted him with the idea to apply for the grant. A dedicated coalition of partners supported the effort, and hiring a consultant with opioid settlement funds was also important to the ultimate success of the application, he said.
“We are deeply grateful for the support of ONDCP and CDC,” said Mr. Orsini. “This grant represents a major step forward in our efforts to prevent youth substance use and promote the health and well-being of our community. It will allow us to expand our prevention work, strengthen partnerships across the town, and ensure that Westwood Cares continues to be a trusted, collaborative resource for families, youth, and community members.”
The federal grant is from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy through the federal Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program, and will be dispersed disbursed over five years, at $125,000 per year. The grant is managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Westwood will be eligible to apply for a second, five-year grant at the end of the current grant, said Mr. Orsini. After a second cycle of funding, the town would be expected develop a way to itself sustain the position and new initiatives going forward, he said.
