Jacob Parker Carver, chair of the Tompkins County Community Services Board’s Substance Use Subcommittee, briefed the board on the subcommittee’s work to implement the county local services plan, citing a workforce shortage survey and several system-level challenges including the closure of the local Alcohol and Drug Council (ADC).

Carver, who also identified himself as the alcohol and other drug services coordinator for Cornell Health’s counseling services, said the subcommittee developed a survey of agencies receiving county and state pass-through dollars. He said the survey confirmed the workforce shortage is severe and that the high local cost of living compounds low reimbursement rates for behavioral-health workers.

“We collected some really good data,” Carver said, summarizing the survey’s conclusion that the workforce crisis is significant and affects service delivery. The subcommittee plans advocacy around workforce issues and will add questions related to EIB initiatives when the survey is reissued.

Carver outlined the subcommittee’s 2024–26 objectives across five goals: workforce, housing, crisis-response best practices, cross-system coordination and transition-age youth services. He described completed work — such as a survey to quantify workforce shortages — and next steps, including inviting presenters from outreach and clinical providers and partnering on data-driven interventions using overdose data published on the Whole Health website.

Board members asked about changes after ADC’s closure. Carver said agencies CARS and CMC have taken over some responsibilities; the contract handoff experienced delays and the new providers’ operations had not fully launched at the time of the meeting. He said representatives from CARS and CMC were scheduled to present at the subcommittee’s next meeting.

Members asked several operational questions: Jessica (last name not provided) asked whether treatment-court peers attend the subcommittee; Carver said they participate periodically. A board member asked about Narcan availability in schools; Carver said school staff can carry Narcan and credited a school staff intervention for saving a student, while adding that students are not allowed to possess Narcan under current policy and that local advocates are working with state lawmakers on changes.

Carver also reported discussion of peer services expansion and the different peer certifications used across mental-health and substance-use contexts. He noted that ADC had provided prevention services in local schools and that some prevention work has moved to the Rural Health Institute and BOCES.

The subcommittee will hold its next meeting Wednesday, June 11, from 12 to 1 p.m. on Zoom, and Carver said he expects more information about service transitions when representatives from CARS and CMC attend.

Ending
Carver closed by underscoring the subcommittee’s focus on cross-system integration: “Substance use issues don’t happen on their own,” he said, and the group will continue using data and partner presentations to guide interventions.