Opioid settlement funds back DART, overdose fatality reviews and spike response in Olmsted County

Olmsted County public‑health staff on a routine update described how opioid settlement funds are being used to establish and operate a Drug and Alcohol Response Team (DART), stand up an overdose fatality review team and develop an overdose spike response plan, and to support community mental‑health resources via the Credible Mind platform.

Sydney Frey, program manager for the county’s Scribe Response Service team, said the county received $7,200,000 in settlement funding to be spent over 18 years and that a cross‑sector opioid settlement core team recommended allocating funds to launch DART. “In 2023, Olmsted County announced that we would be receiving $7,200,000 and that funding would span 18 years,” Frey said.

Monica Zwelt, DART team lead, summarized operations and outcomes since DART began providing services in January 2024. “Since then, we’ve been able to work with over 800 unique individuals within our community,” Zwelt said. She reported the team has received more than 1,000 referrals, completed about 280 clinical assessments, logged over 8,000 contacts with clients and supports, and conducted more than 150 post‑overdose outreaches. Zwelt added DART has placed 53 people into police‑assisted recovery beds and coordinated more than 400 treatment admissions across levels of care.

Staff explained the overdose fatality review team will convene medical examiners, law enforcement, jail staff, treatment providers and other partners to examine circumstances around fatal overdoses, review autopsy and toxicology results, identify gaps and recommend system changes to governing leaders and partner organizations. Abby Tricker said the county is also creating an overdose spike response plan — with technical assistance from the Minnesota Department of Health and HIDTA — to define local triggers, data monitoring and coordinated responses when a spike is detected.

County staff also reviewed local usage of Credible Mind, a county digital mental‑health resource launched to the public in late 2023. The platform’s most popular local pages include Olmsted County’s mental‑health resource page and substance‑use resource page; top assessments taken by users were for depression and anxiety.

Board members asked about classification of overdose deaths as poisonings versus drug overdoses; staff confirmed the fatality review team will review medical‑examiner autopsies and toxicology to better categorize causes (for example: fentanyl, methamphetamine, mixed substances or other toxins).

Staff asked the board to note these program outcomes and the ongoing work to refine response plans; no formal board action on program design was required at this meeting.