Jefferson County partners plan April 29 training, Narcan pickup site and outreach displays funded by opioid-settlement dollars

Jefferson County community partners agreed this week to move forward on a series of opioid-awareness and harm-reduction activities, including a training set for Tuesday, April 29, a plan to become a Narcan pickup site and outreach displays at libraries and fairs.

Speaker 2 told the group they have applied for continuing-education credits for a morning session scheduled 8 a.m.–noon at the Convention Center and submitted the CE application last week. "I submitted those last week," Speaker 2 said, adding they had not yet heard back from the college contact at Indian Hills. They said the $10 continuing-education certificate fee would be paid for from grant funds derived from opioid settlements.

The meeting produced several concrete outreach ideas. Speaker 3 described a proposal from Alex, the local librarian, for a permanent or rotating educational booth at the library that could also travel to the high school commons or community health fairs. "We could take it to the high school and leave it in the commons area for a week," Speaker 3 said, proposing the library as the display's home when not traveling.

Participants also discussed use of the Elks National Drug Awareness Program trailers and literature to reach families and students at community events. Speaker 4 outlined the Elks' national program and trailer-based outreach; group members agreed a county-fair booth or targeted events could extend reach at low cost. Speaker 2 volunteered to contact Elks representatives and Steve to explore booth availability.

On harm reduction, Speaker 2 said they presented a Narcan pickup proposal to their board and that a state program with federal funding could permit the health department to distribute Narcan at no cost and without prescription during business hours. "There's a program at the state that's federal funding too," Speaker 2 said, noting the health department's nurse practitioner would sign any required orders and the program would require tracking the number of kits dispensed but not recipients' names.

The group also discussed information distribution. Speaker 2 described an annually updated community resource guide maintained by the local hospital (Bethany), and members agreed to get printing quotes for about 100 bound copies to place at libraries, extension offices, the chamber and in ambulances for on-call distribution.

Participants raised concerns about youth mental health and school budgets. Speaker 2 relayed an estimate from Jay that the school district faces substantial cuts — "I wanted to say 900, 600, $900,000," Speaker 2 said — and that the district may delete a grade and increase student-to-teacher ratios. Members said evidence-based prevention programming and engagement with the new superintendent, Zach Bridal, would be priorities.

Assignments from the meeting included: Speaker 2 following up with the state Narcan program and Elks contacts; Ken working on the book/display; Deb generating printing quotes for the resource guide; and Speaker 2 circulating flyer drafts for the April training to Susie, Connie and Bethany for review. The group set tentative next meeting dates of March 11 and April 8 at 8:30 a.m.

The meeting did not record any formal votes or resolutions; organizers said they would report back to the group with updates on CE approval, Narcan application status and printing estimates at the next meeting.