Gloucester Health Department Hires Anastasia Satterfield to Oversee Youth Prevention Initiatives

GLOUCESTER —Public Health Director Karin Carroll is pleased to announce that a Gloucester Prevention Coordinator has been hired to oversee efforts to reduce youth substance use and support mental health, a key priority of Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken.

Anastasia Satterfield, who goes by Stasia, began her role as Gloucester’s Prevention Coordinator on Nov. 1. In her new position, she will implement an array of initiatives to address youth substance use, specifically underage drinking, tobacco and marijuana use.

Satterfield will additionally work to support mental health among young people by connecting them to supports and resources including trauma informed care, cultivating youth-centered activities and ensuring children and teens have contact with a trusted adult, such as through the Gloucester Police Department’s Cops and Kids program. 

In 2013, Satterfield first joined the Gloucester Health Department and was a member of the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative team, whom she will continue to work closely with in her new role. The Healthy Gloucester Collaborative is a local coalition of public and private community groups. Satterfield will also report directly to Director of Regional Prevention Amy Epstein. She has prior work experience in research as well, which is necessary in her role as PFS Grant Coordinator. The PFS Grant requires extensive data collection and evaluation during each phase of the project.  

“Stasia has a wealth of experience not only in public health, but specifically in our community as well, that made her a natural choice for this position,” Carroll said. “We’re excited to have her on our team as we launch this new, critical programming to help young people in Gloucester stay healthy, make good choices and access the resources they need, should they find themselves struggling with mental health or substance use.”

Satterfield will oversee training, data collection, stakeholder outreach, information dissemination and evaluation of the program, and will additionally partner with local agencies including the Gloucester Police Department, Gloucester Public Schools, Children’s Friends and Family and city partners.

She will also work in conjunction with the city’s Youth Development Coordinator, Jess Scola, to ensure the program’s strategies are youth approved and relevant based on science and best practices. 

The efforts to address youth substance use and mental health are funded by a $1.25 million Strategic Prevention Framework – Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which was awarded to the Gloucester Health Department in September 2019. The grant funding will be rolled out over a five year period, at approximately $250,000 per year. 

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