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Montgomery County peer support specialist reports hundreds served as board reviews opioid program
Summary
At the board’s annual opioid meeting, peer support specialist Crystal Weatherly told commissioners she interacted with 279 county residents (Jan–Nov), linked 114 people to treatment, and distributed hundreds of harm-reduction items; staff said settlement funds totaling $455,000 have been allocated and Weatherly’s contract runs through March 2026.
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners heard its annual opioid-response update Dec. 16, with peer support specialist Crystal Weatherly laying out outreach, referral and treatment figures and urging continued funding.
“From January until November I have interacted with 279 individuals,” Weatherly told the board. “Of those 279, 103 of those are new clients for me that I have just met this year and began to work with.” She said she recorded 880 total interactions, held 22 jail-based support groups with 91 attendees, linked 114 people to treatment or application processes, and distributed 513 harm-reduction resources.
Weatherly described several outreach activities and partnerships supporting the work: community stigma and Narcan outreach events (she said those events reached 832 people this year), four first-responder stigma trainings, an automated referral line for anonymous referrals, a Department of Social Services referral form to protect confidentiality and collaboration with partners that include First Health, Samaritan Colony, the URA Women’s Center, Montgomery Central schools, Tilray Charter School and faith-based drop-off locations for Narcan kits.
“Inside the kit is a 2-dose box of Narcan Naloxone,” Weatherly said, noting each kit also includes peer-support contact information, overdose signs and information about the Good Samaritan law. Weatherly said the automated referral line yields responses within 24 to 48 hours and that jail, probation and parole are the largest referral sources for her caseload.
On program outcomes, Weatherly said she does not have a precise recidivism percentage but told commissioners she has seen a drop. She gave current caseload details: “We’ve got 11 individuals from Montgomery County that are in treatment. Six are in jail waiting for release to go to treatment. Seven have graduated from treatment this year,” she said.
Weatherly and county staff said Montgomery County has allocated $455,000 to opioid-response initiatives from national opioid settlements, and that the county expects about $220,000 to arrive this year for those programs. County staff and Weatherly said Vital Strategies’ dollar-for-dollar match for local funding ends this month and that Weatherly’s contract with First Health runs through March 2026; First Health is pursuing additional funding to sustain the work.
Sheriff Herron urged the board to expand peer-support capacity. “We need another peer support specialist,” he said, adding the jail contains a high number of people with substance-use disorders and urging the board to “take the money we have now” and invest in services rather than wait for additional funds.
Commissioners thanked Weatherly and other partners and noted the program’s regional recognition at a recent opioid summit. The board did not take a formal funding vote at the Dec. 16 meeting; county staff said further budget conversations about sustaining the initiative are expected during the next budget cycle.
