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Category: AAOC

Dane County Approves $750,000 Emergency Initiative to Address Opiate & Fentanyl Epidemics

From the Office of Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive, November 18, 2022

The Harm Reduction and Prevention Act, a roughly $750,000 initiative to address opiate and fentanyl related emergencies, will soon infuse much needed supports into the Dane County community, County Executive Parisi announced today. A resolution to fund the legislative package, which includes school prevention and harm reduction curriculum, was approved at last night’s Dane County Board meeting.

“In Dane County, more residents are dying of drug poisoning than ever before. Just one pill laced with fentanyl or another synthetic opiate can take the life of a friend or loved one,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “Our community must act. The Harm Reduction and Prevention Act builds upon our partnerships and invests hundreds of thousands of dollars into the community to distribute fentanyl testing strips, along with Narcan kits, and increase awareness about these deadly epidemics.”

Deaths involving opiates and fentanyl have steadily increased in Dane County since 2016. In 2021, 149 people in Dane County passed away due to opiate related overdoses—reflecting 86% of all overdose deaths in the county. Opiate related deaths have increased more than 30% in the past five years. Meanwhile, overdose deaths involving fentanyl are up close to 70% in that same timeframe. Fentanyl was determined to be a contributing factor in over three quarters of the county’s overdose deaths in 2021.

In recognition of the continued scourge of opiates and fentanyl in the Dane County community and the harm they continue to cause families, this initiative will:

  • In partnership with Safe Communities and Dane County school districts, pilot developmentally appropriate prevention and harm reduction curriculum through Life Skills and Safety First programing to better serve elementary though high school students. Using an evidence-based approach, Safe Communities will partner with local schools on debuting the new education courses, which focus on building resiliency, identifying risk, being safe, etc. and include interactive modules for older students.
  • Increase awareness and community education about the dangers of fentanyl and opiates.
  • Partner with community organizations to provide widespread distribution of Narcan and fentanyl test strips.
  • Create a dedicated prevention specialist position within the Dane County Department of Emergency Management to oversee the development of a Narcan “leave behind” program where EMS agencies can leave Narcan rescue kits at the scenes of overdoses.
  • In partnership with Safe Communities, embed Dane County Recovery Coaches within local hospitals and potentially the Dane County 911 Center to reduce the time between when an overdose occurs and when an individual first makes contact with a professional who can help them begin the path of addiction treatment/recovery.
  • Create a prevention coordinator at the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center to serve as a direct liaison to a number of communities, providing more awareness and prevention services to populations disproportionately impacted by overdoses/fentanyl poisoning.

This initiative totals around $750,000 and is in addition to the approximately $1.6 million Dane County currently allocates in opiate settlement funding for opiate treatment, prevention, and recovery efforts.

As part of the Harm Reduction and Prevention Act, Dane County will invest $159,900 in media and community outreach efforts. The following groups will receive funding to provide med lock boxes, Narcan, and/or fentanyl test strips: African American Opioid Coalition ($100,000), Pride in Prevention Coalition ($50,000), Recovery Coalition of Dane County ($10,000), Dane County Senior Focal Points ($15,000), and various housing providers ($10,000). $120,000 will also be allocated for school life skills/harm reduction curriculum.

A second portion of the Dane County Harm Reduction and Prevention Act—totaling $283,500—will be funded in the County Executive’s 2023 budget. Of that total, $115,000 will go to create a Prevention Coordinator position at the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center. Approximately $110,000 will establish a prevention specialist position within the Dane County Department of Emergency Management. This individual will work with local EMS agencies on opiate and fentanyl response initiatives in the coming years. $10,000 will go to the Narcan “leave behind” program, while an additional $40,000 will go to school life skills/harm reduction curriculum next year.

Settlement Funds Will Support Plan Against Opioid Epidemic

This story originally appeared on www.NBC15.com.

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – This year, the Department of Health Services expects to get nearly $31 million for the task to fight Wisconsin’s opioid epidemic.

The funds are the result of a settlement, as part of the National Prescription Opiate Litigation. About $6 million arrived as a first payment in late July, the DHS announced. DHS Secretary-Designee Karen Timberlake said Monday the plan to distribute the funds has been submitted to the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance.

Divided into three phases, the plan would largely tackle immediate needs, increase access to services around the state and invest in long term projects. Among the proposed figures, $3 million would increase the statewide availability of Narcan, the drug used to reverse opioid overdoses.

Set aside is even more money for capital projects, to expand prevention, treatment and recovery services.

“The longer we delay, the more we put at risk those who would benefit most from these life-saving investments,” Timberlake said.

Attorney General Josh Kaul (D-Wisconsin) spoke alongside health officials Monday.

“These funds have an opportunity to transform the response to the opioid epidemic and, finally, to turn the corner in this fight,” he said. “It’s critical though that those funds get to our communities as soon as possible because communities and families across the state of Wisconsin continue to suffer from the impacts of substance use disorder and from opioid overdoses.”

The Department of Justice has been working to “hold opioid companies accountable for their role in this epidemic,” according to Kaul.

Wisconsin’s opioid crisis began in the late 1990s, Timberlake said, amounting to an almost 900 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths from 1999 to 2018.

According to DHS data comparing demographic groups in 2020, Black people in Wisconsin had the highest rate of all opioid deaths.

“We don’t want to see our Black men or women ,again, dying from this when they don’t have to,” Carola Gaines, co-chair of the African American Opioid Coalition, said. “If they really want to change the narrative and they really want to transform issues then hopefully some of this funding will be involved in harm reduction, recovery housing and treatment.”

In the years to come, Wisconsin is due to receive more than $400 million in total settlement funds. Thirty percent of total funds will stay at the state level, while 70 percent will go to local governments.

Ending African American Deaths from Despair Opening Remarks

AAOC Ending African American Deaths from Despair – Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive, Webinar Series Opening Remarks Friday, June 5, 2020

“Words cannot express my sorrow at this heartbreaking moment in our nation’s history. Inexcusable violence against unarmed African Americans has gone unchecked for far too long. These crimes are indefensible.

We’re reminded at times like these that African American community members are in poorer health than white Americans FOR A REASON. Research on health disparities is clear: the trauma of experiencing and viewing relentless instances of violence and discrimination against people simply because of their race, along with structural racism that deprives African Americans of opportunities to achieve the same level of success as white Americans, takes a toll on African American mental and physical health.

It is in this context that I welcome you to this Ending African American Deaths from Despair webinar series. This conference has been in the planning stages for months, but it could not be more timely. Although the term “deaths from despair” was coined to refer to a recent spike in deaths among white Americans from opioid overdose, suicide and chronic alcoholism, African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of these deaths in Dane County. And we are concerned that trauma from recent events – violence plus the disproportionate impacts of the coronavirus on the Black community – will exacerbate this trend.

The goal of this webinar series is to offer concrete solutions and opportunities for involvement to prevent deaths from despair from the African American perspective. The program was planned by the African American Opioid Coalition, a group of Black leaders convened 3 years ago under the auspices of Safe Communities to reduce drug harm in the community.

I am excited to announce that this webinar series kicks off my Ending Deaths from Despair Initiative, launched with planning support from Safe Communities. In coming months we will convene a Task Force of community and clinical mental health, faith and business leaders, first responders and advocates to implement a coordinated plan to end deaths from despair:  deaths from suicide, overdose and chronic alcoholism.

In addition to work beginning during this webinar series, our action plan will include making recovery coaching and peer support available via EMS and emergency rooms for people experiencing a suicidal crisis, building partnerships with gun shops to increase safe storage options, and continuing our important work to establish Dane County’s Universal Access Center.

It is significant that this work begins thanks to leadership of Dane County’s African American community. Through this webinar series, we will learn important lessons about connection and resilience that we can apply to our work community-wide.  The African American Opioid Coalition is an innovator – and we appreciate their leadership and guidance as we move forward.

I am committed to continuing to work in partnership with the African American community to make Dane County a place of opportunity, fairness and justice for all who live here, and to work for the day when every person of color has access to the opportunity and safety they deserve, free from the trauma of racism.”

RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE

Treatment Key

Safe communities has complied a list of abbreviation definitions for finding the right treatment for you.

MAT: Medication for Addiction Treatment.
OP: Outpatient Treatment – person lives at home or in the community, attends. individual and group therapy, these can include or not include MAT.
IOP: Intensive Outpatient Treatment – person lives at home or in the community, attends individual and extended groups, 9-12 hours a week.
Residential: person lives at the facility for a period of at least 14 days, some last as many as 45 days.
PHP: Partial Hospitalization Program is a structured mental health treatment program that runs for several hours each day, three to five days per week.
DBT: Dialectical behavior therapy is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that integrates mindfulness techniques.