Wyoming National Guard partners with Fremont County leaders to strengthen prevention efforts

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyoguard/albums/72177720331948961

Wyoming National Guard

RIVERTON, Wyo. — In a quiet room at the Riverton Branch Library, local leaders gathered not to react to a crisis, but to prevent the next one.

Along with the Wyoming National Guard helping guide the discussion, community partners are working to turn data into action to address substance misuse, suicide, and other persistent health challenges in Fremont County.

Community members, behavioral health professionals, educators, and law enforcement representatives gathered Jan. 25, 2026, at the Riverton Branch Library in Wyoming for a planning session hosted by the Fremont County Prevention Partnership. The meeting was part of an ongoing effort to determine how state and federal prevention grants, along with opioid settlement funds, can be used most effectively to address local needs.

The Wyoming National Guard’s Counterdrug Drug Demand Reduction & Outreach program is supporting the partnership by helping structure its work around the Strategic Prevention Framework, an evidence- based model that emphasizes assessment, collaboration, implementation, and evaluation. Tech. Sgt. Shayne Andren, a DDRO program manager with the Wyoming National Guard, said the Guard’s role is to help communities organize their efforts, not dictate solutions.

“Our role isn’t to tell communities what to do,” Andren said. “It’s to help them look at their own
data and decide what makes sense for where they live.”

Information shared during the meeting and outlined in prevention partnership materials shows the SPF model encourages communities to examine trends such as arrest records, overdose data, hospital reports and suicide statistics to better understand where prevention efforts should be focused. Andren told attendees that his perspective on substance misuse changed over the course of his career, particularly after moving from enforcement into prevention work.

“When I was in law enforcement, I mostly saw the problem at the point of arrest,” Andren said.
“Prevention lets us step back and ask what’s happening upstream.”

Prevention partnership documents indicate Fremont County continues to face persistent challenges.

County data show hundreds of suspected overdoses in recent years, including fatal incidents, along with ongoing concerns related to suicide, underage drinking, vaping, and access to substances among youth. Rather than addressing those issues through a single agency, the partnership brings together multiple task forces and workgroups focused on suicide prevention, impaired driving, substance misuse, gambling, and tobacco use.

Meeting discussions emphasized that coordinated planning allows limited resources to be targeted where they are most likely to have a lasting impact.
Andren explained that the SPF model helps communities slow down and avoid rushing to solutions that may not fit local conditions.

“The framework gives communities a way to slow down and think through the problem instead of jumping straight to solutions,” Andren said. “It’s about asking the right questions first.”
In addition to Community Prevention Grant funding, the partnership is also advising county leaders on the use of opioid settlement funds. Planning materials discussed during the meeting reflect Fremont County’s recent decision to begin allocating those funds after a prolonged deliberation process, with additional prevention-focused proposals under consideration for 2026.

While funding levels can fluctuate year to year due to state and federal budget decisions, prevention partnership guidance shared at the meeting emphasized the importance of being prepared to act when resources become available.

Andren noted that long-term success depends on community ownership of prevention efforts.
“If the community isn’t involved, the solution won’t last,” Andren said. “Sustainability comes from
local ownership.”

As planning continues ahead of the partnership’s next scheduled meeting in May, organizers
encouraged residents to participate in task forces and workgroups as proposals are refined using local data.

“Prevention isn’t quick work,” Andren said. “But it’s the kind of work that makes a difference
years down the road.”

Through its role in supporting the Strategic Prevention Framework, the Wyoming National Guard
continues to work alongside Fremont County partners to help build prevention strategies tailored to 3 local needs—reinforcing that healthier communities strengthen resilience, readiness, and public safety across the state.