Byrnes Mill Police Chief Hosting Teen Drug Awareness Seminar for Parents

Byrnes Mill Police Chief Hosting Teen Drug Awareness Seminar for Parents

A local police chief who has stood beside families during some of their hardest moments is working to prevent other parents from ever facing the same tragedy.

Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank Selvaggio is once again organizing a community seminar aimed at helping parents recognize the early warning signs of teen drug and alcohol abuse and connect them with resources before addiction takes hold.

The event is organized in partnership with Pastor Dave Stain of Spring Hill Church, who also serves as the Byrnes Mill Police Department’s chaplain. The idea for the seminar grew out of painful experiences the two men shared while responding together to overdose deaths involving teenagers.

“After standing over several dead teenagers who overdosed, we decided we needed to try and do something about it,” Selvaggio said.

That decision led to the creation of the annual parent seminar, which focuses on helping families understand the warning signs of substance abuse and connecting them with local organizations that can help.

This year’s seminar will be held at Northwest High School, located at 6005 Cedar Hill Road in Cedar Hill. The event will start at 5:00 pm on Monday, March 9th, 2026.

Recognizing the Signs

Selvaggio says one of the biggest goals of the event is helping parents understand that addiction often looks different for every child.

“No teenager’s addiction is identical,” he explained. “There isn’t one treatment that works for everyone.”

To describe the challenge, Selvaggio compares helping a struggling teen to opening a safe.

“Every combination is different. A little to the right, a little to the left,” he said. “But if we have enough resources there to meet individual needs, we’re going to be more successful.”

Parents attending the seminar will hear about common warning signs that can sometimes be overlooked, including sudden changes in friend groups, secretive behavior, shifts in attitude, unusual sleep or eating habits, and unexplained health changes such as fatigue or bloodshot eyes.

A Difficult Reality for Parents

One of the biggest challenges, Selvaggio said, is overcoming the natural instinct many parents have to believe addiction only happens in other families.

“The old adage still holds true ‘not my child,’” he said.

But Selvaggio is careful to approach that reality without blame or criticism. During the seminar, the goal is not to make parents feel judged or defensive, but to help them feel supported and equipped.

He understands that acknowledging the possibility that a child could struggle with substance abuse can be deeply painful for parents.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow,” Selvaggio said. “Parents want to protect their kids. That instinct is a good thing.”

Rather than placing blame on families, Selvaggio encourages parents to remain open to the possibility that something may be wrong and to seek help if they notice changes.

“That first step, reaching out and saying you need help, is the hardest one,” he said.

The seminar is designed to make that step easier by surrounding parents with organizations and professionals who are there to help, not judge.

Starting Conversations Early

Selvaggio also encourages parents to begin talking with their children about drugs earlier than many might expect but in ways that feel natural and appropriate for their age.

“If I had to give a grade, I’d say around third grade,” he said.

Those conversations do not have to be dramatic or overwhelming. Instead, he recommends integrating drug awareness into the same kinds of safety discussions families already have with their children.

Parents already talk with their kids about fire safety, strangers, medications, and household chemicals. Drug awareness can be introduced in much the same way as another important safety topic that helps children learn how to protect themselves.

For example, teaching children to only take medicine from a trusted adult or school nurse, or to never accept pills or substances from friends or classmates, can be part of normal safety guidance.

Selvaggio emphasized that every family and every child is different, and conversations should be tailored to the individual child and the environment they are growing up in.

Some children may benefit from straightforward conversations early on, while others may need more gradual discussions as they mature and encounter new situations at school or in social settings.

“There’s no one formula,” he said.

What matters most, Selvaggio said, is maintaining open communication and staying engaged in a child’s life so that changes in behavior or environment do not go unnoticed.

“Parents are always going to be the ones who see the changes first,” he said.

The Role of Parents

Selvaggio stressed that parents remain the most important line of defense when it comes to protecting teenagers.

“Parents are the ones who are going to notice changes in their child,” he said.

But modern life can make that more difficult.

“With both parents working and kids spending more time on phones and computers, there isn’t always as much personal interaction,” he said.

Remaining engaged and aware of changes in behavior can be critical.

A Growing Community Effort

The seminar has continued to grow over the years, attracting a wide range of community organizations and resource providers.

Selvaggio emphasized that every partner involved plays an important role in helping families find support. While many groups now contribute to the event, two organizations have stood beside the program from the very beginning: the Jefferson County Drug Prevention Coalition and Compass Health Network.

This year’s seminar will also include a presentation titled The Neuroscience of Addiction, a program developed by the DEA that helps explain how addiction affects the brain and why substance abuse can take hold so quickly, particularly in young people.

Following the presentation, resource organizations will briefly introduce their services before parents have the opportunity to speak with them directly.

Each year, numerous groups participate, offering counseling services, treatment programs, education, and support resources for families facing substance abuse challenges.

Rather than promoting a single solution, the seminar is designed to help parents explore a range of options and connect with the professionals who may best fit their family’s needs.

Powerful Stories of Loss and Hope

For Selvaggio, one of the most powerful aspects of the event is the involvement of parents who have already experienced unimaginable loss.

“Every year we see parents who have lost a child to overdose come forward and want to help save someone else’s child,” he said.

“That touches my soul.”

Some parents have returned the following year with stories of how the information they learned helped them intervene before tragedy struck.

“For the last four years we’ve had parents come back and tell us the information they got saved their child’s life,” Selvaggio said.

“If it’s just one child, all the effort was worth it.”

New and Dangerous Drugs

The urgency of the issue continues to grow as increasingly powerful drugs appear on the streets and in schools.

Selvaggio pointed to fentanyl, which is about 100 times stronger than morphine, and newer substances like xylazine, often called the “zombie drug,” which can render users nearly immobile.

Even more concerning is a newer drug called nitazene.

“It’s nine times stronger than fentanyl.” he said.

According to Selvaggio, the drug has already appeared in schools across Missouri.

“You start to get a handle on one drug, and a new one pops up,” he said. “It’s a never ending cycle.”

Community Policing in Action

Selvaggio sees the seminar as part of a broader philosophy of community policing practiced by the Byrnes Mill Police Department. But he is quick to emphasize that the work is not about one person.

According to Selvaggio, the department’s efforts are a joint commitment shared by every officer on the force. He credits his team with being just as engaged in the community and just as invested in the wellbeing of local families as he is.

“This isn’t about me,” Selvaggio said. “It’s the whole department.”

One of the Byrnes Mill Police Department’s core values is collaboration with the community, something the department works to achieve by building trust and demonstrating genuine care for the residents they serve.

This value is demonstrated in the department’s ongoing involvement in community programs throughout the year, including:

• Shop With a Hero holiday programs
• Special Olympics fundraising events
• National Night Out celebrations
• Back to school supply drives
• Programs helping students pay for school lunches
• Teen driver education seminars
• School reading programs and youth events

Selvaggio believes these efforts help build relationships long before an emergency ever occurs.

“We have to be engaged,” he said. “Families and kids have to trust these officers if we’re going to keep them safe.”

Looking to the Future

Selvaggio hopes the seminar will eventually inspire similar events across the region.

The Pevely Police Department is already planning to attend this year’s seminar to observe the program and potentially launch a similar event in their own community.

“That’s how I’d like to see it grow,” he said. “Other departments hosting their own events so we’re reaching more families.”

Expanding the reach of the event is something Selvaggio believes will take stronger partnerships across the community.

One of the biggest challenges he faces each year is simply getting the word out to parents who may benefit from attending.

While the seminar itself is free to attend, resources for advertising and promotion are limited. Selvaggio hopes that sponsors, community organizations, or businesses may eventually step forward to help fund broader outreach efforts.

With additional support, he believes the event could reach far more families across Jefferson County and beyond.

“The only way we’re ever going to reach more people is to be able to advertise it more professionally,” he said.

For Selvaggio, the goal is simple. Make sure as many parents as possible know that help and information are available.

Open to the Entire Community

For the first time, the seminar is also opening the door for teenagers to attend alongside parents, a change Selvaggio hopes will help the message land more directly with the people most at risk.

His hope is simple. That teens walk away understanding this isn’t something to treat casually.

He wants young people to see the real world consequences of drug and alcohol abuse, and to understand how quickly experimentation can turn into tragedy.

“It’s not a game,” he said.

Selvaggio emphasized that today’s drug environment is far more dangerous than it was years ago, with substances often mixed or contaminated in ways that can be deadly even in a single use.

The core message he hopes teens take to heart is that the risk is real, the stakes are high, and one decision can change everything for them and for the people who love them.

Although the seminar is hosted in the Northwest School District, Selvaggio emphasized that anyone can attend.

“This isn’t just for families here,” he said. “Anyone can come. It’s free. I don’t care where you’re from Jefferson County, Missouri, Illinois, I just want to get the message out.”

For Selvaggio, the goal is simple.

“If we can save even one child,” he said, “it’s worth it.”