West Conn plans to launch a new Master of Science in Addiction Studies program this fall.  It's a response to the national opioid crisis and designed to prepare professional counselors specializing in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders. The master's program, offered by the Department of Psychology, will feature course work with faculty specialists in the field of addiction studies. 

The program will also include extensive internship opportunities for students to work at area agencies on the front line in treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded West Conn a $1 million Opioid Workforce Expansion Program grant for the development of internship and training assignments serving high-risk populations. 

Partner agencies include the Western Connecticut Health Network in Danbury and Norwalk, the APT Foundation in New Haven, the Mountainside Treatment Center in Canaan, the Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism, and CHOICES at WCSU.

Connecticut’s opioid and heroin epidemic has seen deaths attributed to overdoses increase to more than 1,000 in 2017.