Donate today to help sustain substance abuse prevention activities!

We need your help! In order to make sure we provide the right amount of education, prevention activities (such as parent and student seminars), drug prevention events, media outreach, and support preventative law enforcement activities, we need help from our community. Help sustain our current programs today so that we can make sure our children make the right, healthy choices.

Donations will be utilized entirely for alcohol and drug prevention in Putnam County, NY. 

You are making a difference!

April is Teen Driver Safety Awareness Month

A message from the Putnam County Traffic Safety Board

As we know, from statistics and personal experience, the greatest danger to teens in Putnam County is the danger posed from traffic crashes. The leading cause of accidental deaths to teenage drivers, throughout the United States, is automobile accidents. Although teen drivers make up only 7% of the driving population, they comprise 18% of the injury related automobile crashes. Major reasons for the high rate of crashes among teen drivers include: driver inexperience, speeding, unnecessary risk taking, distracted driving and use of alcohol and drugs.

In Putnam County we have seen too many teen drivers get killed in automobile crashes. Many of these deaths happened during the spring and summer months, especially during prom season. The Putnam County Traffic Safety Board has identified this problem and made Teen Driver Safety our top priority. We are dedicating the month of April to Teen Driver Safety Awareness. The Putnam County Legislature and most of the Towns and Villages, within Putnam County, have made Proclamations declaring April as “Teen Driver Safety Awareness Month”.

On January 9, 2007 Brewster High School Students lost their classmate and good friend Christopher Caiazzo. Christopher was involved in a horrific car crash that took his life. Since April 23^rd is Christopher’s birthday, we felt it appropriate to remember him by doing everything we can to keep other teen drivers safe.

The Putnam County Traffic Safety Board has teamed up with Putnam County law enforcement, and other partners including: Communities that Care and the National Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependents. Our team members plan on making this program an annual event in Putnam County that will include volunteer activities within all of our school districts, in the media and through many other civic and service organizations. We are planning to provide many educational and awareness programs through school assemblies, safety briefings, the use of public access television and through other youth programs.

So during the month of April please remember Christopher Caiazzo and the other teens that lost their lives to automobile crashes throughout Putnam County. Encourage your friends to drive safe, slow down, don’t use alcohol and drugs, and put down the cell phone while driving. Thank you!

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

Drinking too much alcohol can lead to health problems, including alcohol poisoning, and an increased risk of heart disease. This April, during Alcohol Awareness Month, the Putnam County Communities That Care (CTC) Coalition encourages you to take this time to educate yourself and your loved ones about the dangers of alcohol abuse.

In New York State alone, there were 1,156 drunken driving fatalities in 2009.  One third of the fatalities in New York State involve impaired or intoxicated drivers and pedestrians. Young drinking drivers are at the highest risk of all. Drivers 20 years old or younger are almost three times more likely to be involved in alcohol related fatal crashes than other drivers. To spread the word and prevent alcohol abuse, the Putnam CTC Coalition is joining other organizations across the country to honor Alcohol Awareness Month to prevent alcohol abuse in our community.

According to the 2010 Communities That Care Prevention Needs Assessment Survey, 64% of Putnam County youth grades 8-12 have used alcohol in their lifetime.  Tragic health, social and economic problems result from the use of alcohol by youth. Underage drinking is a causal factor in a host of serious problems, including homicide, suicide, traumatic injury, drowning, burns, violent and property crime, high risk sex, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisoning, and need for treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence.

Community norms that foster alcohol abuse are a major factor. Parental support, monitoring and communication can significantly reducing drinking among adolescents.

The CTC Coalition encourages all parents to:

• Increase awareness of alcohol use disorders and the success of prevention and treatment.
• Educate yourself and loved ones, especially our youth, about the dangers of alcohol abuse.
• Support and encourage referrals for treatment for individuals when an alcohol addiction is suspected or present.

If you are drinking too much, you can improve your health by cutting back or quitting. Keep track of how much you drink, avoid places where overdrinking occurs, and find new ways to deal with stress. If you are concerned about someone else’s drinking, offer to help.

Members of the Putnam CTC Coalition is available if you have any questions or would like for us to do a presentation to your organization on this or any other substance abuse trends that affect our children. Please call the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependencies of Putnam at 845-225-4646, Ext. 13 for further information and referral services. Please visit and join us on Facebook by searching “Putnam County Communities That Care – NY or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/PutnamCTCNY.

I Believe - Prevention Video

Very powerful. Be sure to watch it until the end. Please share!