TOLEDO, Ohio — The Lucas County Drug Abuse Response Team, also known as D.A.R.T., recently received a $45,000 grant from the Greater Toledo Community Foundation.
Lucas County Sheriff, John Tharp said specifically the money will be used in the Lucas County community for drug education, runaway children and human trafficking.
They are also looking to expand their unit and reach in the community.
"We fell by putting our efforts towards this; expanding the efforts of the DART unit that we can curb addiction, we can stop addiction before it even starts. If we can get with the young people and make sure they're not using, they won't get addicted, they wont overdose, they won't die and furthermore, it will reduce crime," said Sheriff Tharp.
Sheriff Tharp said there's 1,100 runaway children from the city of Toledo each year and a percentage of them will to become addicted to drugs or caught up in human trafficking.
The D.A.R.T. unit wants to find those kids, bring them back and get them the help they need.