Jefferson County Health and Human Relations Commission members heard a briefing March 27 from Lindsay of the Jefferson County Health Department on this year’s program activity, including expanded school vaccine clinics, emergency medication stocks at schools, an upcoming behavioral-health services navigator position, and new contracts serving infants exposed to substance use.

The update matters because several items affect countywide public-health capacity and how residents will access vaccines, overdose reversal medication and maternal–child supports. Commission members pressed staff about how programs are funded and whether recent state Health First dollars are likely to continue.

Lindsay (Jefferson County Health Department staff) told the commission the department has expanded youth tobacco work tied to the county’s Tobacco Coalition and that it moved a part-time youth tobacco prevention coordinator to full time to match state funding and extend work into additional schools. The department runs two routine in-school vaccine clinics each year — a spring clinic for routine childhood vaccines and a fall clinic for influenza or COVID immunization depending on parental preference — and has begun attending school open houses to check students’ vaccination status and reduce administrative burden on school nurses.

The health department is providing “emergency stock medications” to most local schools, Lindsay said, naming EpiPen (epinephrine), Narcan (naloxone) and albuterol as the three medications offered. She said acceptance of specific medications is a school administration decision and that most schools accepted all three. “They’re all covered under basically some sort of a good Samaritan law,” Lindsay said, describing the legal protection for emergency use.

Lindsay described new child- and infant-focused contracts: the department has contracted with a Child Advocacy Center to support education about signs of abuse and mandatory reporting, and with Infants in Bloom, a new program that provides weekly home visits by pediatric staff to infants born with or exposed to substance use. “They’re going in the home once a week with these babies…They follow them through a couple years old and making sure that they’re getting routine medical care,” Lindsay said, adding that the program also helps families maintain accountability around recovery and can provide immunizations through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program because the health department can house and meet VFC requirements.

The department is forming both a fetal and infant mortality review team (a clinical review of cases resulting in fetal or infant death) and a county-level suicide and overdose fatality review team to identify trends, Lindsay said. She described the child fatality review team as multi-county and the planned suicide/overdose review as Jefferson County–specific, currently in initial stages.

On behavioral-health navigation, Lindsay said the department received a three-year grant from the Bethany Legacy Foundation to fund a behavioral-health services navigator. The navigator’s role is to catalog county resources — from mutual-aid meetings to formal treatment providers — and build connections so staff can give “warm referrals” when residents seek help.

Members asked about overdose trends and Narcan resistance reported elsewhere; Lindsay said she had not been informed of such a trend in Jefferson County and noted that death certificates and finalized records are the county’s source for mortality data. She also described a grant-funded public Narcan distribution option at the health department: residents can complete a two‑minute video and receive Narcan at no charge, and the department plans an employer-facing Narcan program that places doses at businesses for emergency use only, not for distribution.

Commissioners pressed on funding stability. Lindsay summarized recent state Health First funding as having increased county allocations the prior year (described in meeting remarks as “about 370 last year” and “about 720 this year,” language used by the presenter). She warned the commission the next year’s allocation could decline — she characterized a possible reduction as roughly a $200,000 shortfall — and said some positions are already funded or partially funded through the Health First allocation, making future cuts a practical concern for program reach.

Commissioners and staff also discussed other contracts and partnerships the department has in place, including trauma-prevention group work with the Freedom Center on behalf of Jefferson House and planned extension of STI testing through a contract with LifeChoices and outside clinical partners.

Votes at a glance
- Approval of minutes from the March 3 meeting — motion to approve was made and seconded; the commission approved the minutes.
- Recommendation to county commissioners to appoint Stephanie Gabbard to the Health and Human Relations Commission — commission voted to forward Stephanie Gabbard’s nomination to the county commissioners (motion made, seconded, approved).

The health department’s update will inform the commission’s strategic planning and outreach priorities; staff asked commissioners to consider helping with warm introductions for the incoming behavioral-health navigator and to watch for grant opportunities announced by local funders such as the Bethany Legacy Foundation.

Ending: Commission staff noted upcoming community events where the commission may have outreach tables and closed the meeting after administrative business and scheduling future meeting dates.