The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) has announced two grants totaling more than $1.3 million to address gaps in services for young children and adolescents affected by substance use and exposure to opioids.

The New York City-based Sesame Workshop was awarded $841,000 to expand its Parental Addiction Initiative, which uses storybooks, video, and interactive digital activities featuring the Muppet character Karli to help children affected by parental substance use understand addiction and discuss how it affects them. The American Academy of Pediatrics in Itasca, Illinois, was awarded $500,000 to develop and disseminate educational tools that enhance the capacity of clinicians to prevent, identify, and treat substance use among adolescents and young adults.

The grants are part of a broader FORE initiative to expand access to prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services for young people who are at risk of developing an opioid use disorder, experiencing an overdose due to accidental or intentional exposure to opioids, or adversely affected by a parent’s substance use.

“Our newest grantees,” said FORE president Karen A. Scott, “are developing tools that will empower families and enable health care providers to help protect youth from the increasing toxicity of the illicit drug supply and the challenges associated with living with a parent with a substance use disorder.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/SDI Productions)