MADISON, Wis. — Dane County Executive Joe Parisi on Thursday announced a nearly $740,000 initiative aimed at combating the opioid and fentanyl epidemics in the county.
During a news conference outside the City-County Building Thursday morning, Parisi laid out details of the Harm Reduction and Prevention Act, which is part of his 2023 budget proposal.
It calls for partnering with community groups to more widely distribute Narcan and fentanyl test strips and for new efforts to educate people about the dangers fentanyl and opiates pose. One education program focuses on teaching prevention and harm reduction to K-12 students in Dane County schools.
Around $160,000 will go toward the school education program, and another nearly $160,000 will be spent on media and community outreach, Parisi said.
Also included are plans to add a prevention specialist position within the county’s emergency management agency at a cost of $110,000. That person, Parisi said, would be tasked with developing a “leave behind” program where first responders leave Narcan rescue kits at overdose scenes at a cost of around $10,000.
Other aspects of the plan include embedding recovery coaches in local hospitals and potentially the 911 dispatch center to more quickly connect people who have overdosed with someone who can help them start the recovery process, and spending $115,000 to add a prevention coordinator at the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center.
A resolution to begin spending nearly $465,000 immediately on various components of the plan is set to be introduced at Thursday night’s county board meeting. The remaining roughly $275,000 is planned to be funded through the 2023 budget.
The board is also set to consider a resolution backing a program to make fentanyl test strips more accessible to those who need them. That legislation also backs a push at the state level to decriminalize using the test strips.
The push comes amid an increase in deaths related to opioids and fentanyl in Dane County. Opioid-related deaths are up more than 30% in the county over the past five years, Parisi said, and fentanyl-related deaths are up nearly 70%.
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“The bottom line is more Dane County residents than ever before are dying from drug poisoning,” Parisi said, “and just one pill laced with fentanyl or another synthetic opioid can kill.”
It also comes as the county allocates nearly $1.6 million in funding it received as part of opioid-related settlements to fund treatment, prevention and recovery efforts.
Despite that sum, Parisi said additional steps were necessary.
“We as a community are doing much to address this crisis, but clearly much more needs to happen, and it needs to happen now.”
Parisi is expected to release his full 2023 budget early next month.
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