Tomorrow, Governor Andy Beshear will recognize the decline in Kentucky overdose deaths from 2023 to 24.

It's the third consecutive decline in.

But it's still a big problem in Kentucky and Oldham County.

Nonprofit has created what it calls the Parent Handbook.

It's a guide that helps adults understand and talk to their kids about some of the toughest subjects, including drugs, but also alcohol and screen time.

As our June LaFleur reports, the group Operation Parent has distributed nearly a half a million of these handbooks across the nation.

Nearly 20 years ago, Gene Shrum started Operation Parent.

So just like any parent, Gene and her husband, were having issues with their own kids.

You know, we have all have issues with our kids.

Realize that, hey, if we're going through these issues, there's got to be other parents that are going through these issues as well.

Darrell Bramer leads the nonprofit now with the goal of helping parents talk about certain things technology, whether that be gaming addiction.

We also, cover alcohol, drug and substance abuse or misuse to bridge the gap.

Operation parent offers the parent handbook.

I think a lot of times parents want to have the conversation, and they just don't know where to start.

Opened the handbook and it starts with the facts.

Did you know that teens that start drinking early are more likely to become addicted to alcohol later in life, or that illicit fentanyl is sometimes made to look like OxyContin or Adderall?

You know, parents a lot of times don't know enough about fentanyl.

They don't know enough about the drugs that are out there.

And, you know, the one pill can kill is a is a real statement.

Is is a true statement.

Following the facts are actions to take.

Get rid of prescription medications you don't need anymore.

Ask your teen if you were offered a drug, what would you do?

This topic shouldn't be taboo.

So when you sit down and and talk to your kids, or you're riding in the car and you're talking to your kids, they shouldn't be like, oh gosh, we're talk.

We're having that talk.

This should just be normal conversation.

And the earlier you start that, the more easily that is, is to be able to, you know, to to be had.

The handbook cites federal health organizations like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Operation parent also brings in national experts.

I've been a practicing therapist for 26 years in Houston, Texas.

I'm also a prevention researcher.

I created a prevention program that teaches the neurodevelopmental effects of high risk behavior to kids.

Collier says substance use prevention efforts have come a long way.

Research proved the Dare program millennials grew up with did not prevent substance use.

What we have learned from there and lots of other really good and maybe not so great programs, is that prevention works if it is done consistently and over the developed mental lifespan of a child, as well as empowering all the people that revolve around the child.

Collier explains the skills kids need to handle tough situations like saying no to drugs.

And for the kids in grades three through five.

We're going to increase impulse control, emotion regulation, frustration tolerance, empathy building, really teaching them the neuroscience of how drugs and alcohol technology overuse affect the brain, and then also empower parents with good behavior modification skills like how do you, help create kids who follow the rules and and protect their brain?

This evidence based programing has caught on over the years.

Viewers across the globe have tuned in to Operation Parents webinars, and the handbook has reached 49 states.

Schools, churches and other drug free coalitions.

Want the easy to use guide?

I mean, there's 31 million families out there in the United States that have kids who are 18 years and younger, and we hope to be hitting a half a million handbooks provided, you know, over the course of our lifetime.

This year, we hope to hit that 500,000, handbook mark.

We got a long way to go, and and we're not stopping until we until we can impact as many parents across this across the nation as possible.

Operation parent partners with more than 40 organizations in Kentucky.

That includes ten public school districts in eastern Kentucky, thanks to funding from the state's opioid abatement Advisory Commission for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

Thank you much.

June Operation Parent offers guides for parents of elementary through high school kids.

That includes a Spanish version and a Christian version.