By Susan Misur, Register Staff

GUILFORD — After working in substance abuse treatment centers and seeing patients’ anguish first-hand, Karolin Regan knew she wanted to help people avoid addiction in the first place.

Teaching local students about addiction prevention soon became her goal.

“I really feel like there’s an opportunity to catch these kids young and to provide them with tools to make the right choices,” Regan said.

She recently was appointed program director for Guilford Youth and Family Services and has worked for the agency as a clinician and a student assistant counselor at district schools for the past four years. And with a new leader comes a fresh perspective and expanded services and activities, says the agency’s clinical director, Cathie Zampano.

“With her ideas and her prior connection to the community and the school system, she brings a different component to the agency,” Zampano said of Regan.

Regan, a North Branford resident, said she hopes to start a “Youth in Action” community service club for local students, which will help them complete the service requirement for graduation.

She’s already organized additional charity events for participants of the agency’s Youth Board, like Saturday’s “Pet Photos with Santa” at the agency’s Graves Avenue building. Students of the eight-member board will collect $5 per photo to donate to local animal rescue groups.

Classroom visits for discussions on topics like binge drinking and college life peer pressure will also increase as part of Regan’s passion for prevention. And a series of drug education classes for parents kicks off in January and features Ginger Katz, the founder of the Courage to Speak Foundation who lost her son to a drug overdose.

Bullying prevention is another priority for Regan, who says she plans to address the issue with the Women and Family Life Center, school administrators and parents.

But exactly how she’ll do that will be determined from a questionnaire administered last week in school to students in 7th through 12th grades. The Developmental Assets Survey, created and tallied by educational research firm Search Institute, asked students about personal values, commitment to education, identity, support from friends and family, and how they spend their time. Continued...

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“The more developmental assets kids have, the less likely they are to get involved in high-risk behaviors,” Regan explained. “The survey will show where there are program gaps and how we can make the climate in school one where people feel safe.”

Community action group TEAM Guilford, Youth and Family Services and school staff will use the results to expand on current agency programs and build new ones, Regan said.

Collaboration between various town groups is the key to making the community safer for children, Regan said.

“I think a lot of people are on board and want to see that happen,” she said.

Susan Misur can be reached at 203-789-5742 .

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