$670,000 earmarked to combat opioid abuse
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan will include more than $670,000 in his 2021 budget for the ongoing battle against opioid abuse in the county.
In a press release announcing the funding, Ryan said the money will go toward opioid education programs, outreach and delivery of medication for high-risk populations; safer opioid dispensing practices; and providing social support for those struggling with opioids in relation to housing, child care and transportation.
Through the programs, Ryan said, county residents battling opioid addiction will be able to obtain housing vouchers for local hotels so they will have safe housing while seeking treatment, as well as vouchers for child care to make it easier for those in treatment to attend appointments.
Funds also will be made available to offset transportation costs for residents getting help and to provide access to technology for telemedicine needs.
Additionally, money will be earmarked to expand the county’s High Risk Mitigation Team to the city of Kingston and strengthen its reach into other parts of the county. Through that effort, Ellenville Regional Hospital
will fund two care managers to serve communities outside the city, Ryan said. The Ulster County Health Department, meanwhile, will fund one care manager to focus on Kingston, as well as assist in reviewing all county overdoses and connecting the many treatment facilities.
The High Risk Mitigation Team will take a “population health” approach and work with those struggling with addiction to ensure they receive comprehensive, personalized support and services, the executive said. The team will follow an individual’s treatment so he or she doesn’t slip through the cracks of existing systems, and will provide services such as linking individuals to peer services, treatment, harmreduction measures, medication-assisted treatment, prevention education and recovery services.
Funding for the programs will come from grants, the executive’s office said.
Ryan includes battling the opioid epidemic in the county among his “Big Five” priorities, and the county over the past two years has spent $1.3 million, mostly through grant funding, on opioid prevention efforts.
“Now more than ever, it is critical that we do all that we can to ramp up and prioritize combating the opioid epidemic,” Ryan said in the press release. “That is why, when I took office, I made tackling the opioid epidemic one of my Big Five priorities.
“These funds will go a long way in helping to educate the public, provide needed treatment and support, and to ultimately save lives,” he added. “Ulster County will not just talk about the issue — we are taking real action and putting funding behind stopping an epidemic that has ripped apart too many families in our community.”
On Monday, Ryan declared a public health emergency in Ulster County due to the recent spikes in local deaths caused by fentanyl. Between January and July, he said, opioid-related deaths in the county increased 171% over the same period in 2019.
There also were significant law-enforcement developments this week in Ulster County related to opioids. On Tuesday, the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT) announced what it said was its largestever drug haul: the seizure of more than 10,000 bags of heroin and fentanyl in connection with the arrest of a Kingston man. And on Wednesday, an alleged drug dealer from New Jersey was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a town of Rochester man who overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl. It was the first-ever manslaughter charge in the county arising from an overdose death.