Floyd County coroner launches 'strike team' to provide immediate support to families after deaths

Coroner Matt Tomlin told Floyd County commissioners that his office is making a public introduction of a volunteer "strike team" established about a year ago to respond rapidly when families experience a death and need immediate support. Tomlin said the group has handled more than 52 callouts in the past year and connects bereaved families to local resources.

Project Recovery Southern Indiana's founder Tracy Skaggs described the team as a community‑driven response that brings trained mental‑health and addiction professionals to the scene "with compassion, guidance, and immediate support," saying the work begins "immediately" rather than days later. "Not to fix their grief, but to walk with them through it," Skaggs said.

Liz Davis, an independently licensed clinical social worker who also provides therapist services to hospital staff, said the team provides crisis management, brief therapy and case management at no cost to recipients, and can help families get next‑day care when community wait times for therapy can be months. "We have not charged a single person for any of these services," Davis said.

Other nonprofit partners spoke at the meeting. Anne Crothers, executive director of Clark Floyd County Cares, said local partners and state colleagues are interested in the model and that clinical backing is in place. Jim Seaton, executive director of Lighthouse Sober Living, said his organization and Project Recovery are providing transitional housing and recovery supports to complement the strike team's work.

Tomlin and multiple speakers emphasized the volunteer nature of the program and a network of local and state partners, including school and health‑department contacts. Commissioners thanked the volunteers and asked staff to provide summary numbers of participating organizations and calls for service; Tomlin and partners said the program also has provided mutual‑aid assistance in other counties.

The strike team presentations concluded with commissioners expressing appreciation for the outreach; no county funding action was proposed at the meeting, and presenters stated the services described are volunteer‑driven and provided at no direct cost to local taxpayers.