Lucas County has received more than $3.3 million in state funding to fight opioid addiction and prevent overdose deaths.
The $3,337,093 grant is part of a $100 million state investment in opioid and stimulant response funding.
“This was an application process, and we are receiving the most money of any community in the state, which says a lot about our aggressiveness in going after new funds," said Scott Sylak, executive director of the Mental Health Services Board of Lucas County.
“It’s a substantial amount of money,” Mr. Sylak said, adding that “100 percent of the dollars go to the service providers.”
With 13 programs the board funds, a significant amount of money will go toward recovery housing, he said. The money will also be allocated to treatment services for people who are in high-risk populations and vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, youth, those at risk of homelessness, and minorities.
These are “people who are getting out of jail, people who are trying to enter detox services, mothers who are pregnant or have young children,” Mr. Sylak said.
“And then what we see is an emerging population of individuals who are dying of overdoses in our minority population, so we have minority outreach programs,” he said.
The grant, announced this week, is a continuation of first-year funding received by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The money seeks to strengthen and sustain efforts of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and long-term recovery support for Ohioans struggling with an opioid or stimulant-use disorder, the board said in its announcement.
“We've been receiving these dollars for four or five years now,” Mr. Sylak said. “We've actually been able to hold our line pretty well because of the work that we've been doing and the work of the providers, really making sure that they're responding well to the requirements of the grant.”
More than $58.7 million of the $100 million will be channeled to Ohio's 50 county Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services boards to expand access to local prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support efforts.
“We're an urban community, so the sheer number of overdose-related deaths is always going to be higher than the majority of counties in Ohio. We're not at the highest risk level, but we're up there,” Mr. Sylak said.
“I think it's really a testament to our providers, knowing the quality work that they do and the willingness to do the extra work to seek out these funds because they're not easy to get, and they're not easy to keep,” he added.
First Published November 1, 2023, 12:37 p.m.
