CJCC reviews opioid‑settlement funding plan and recommends front‑loading services

Health and Human Services staff presented a proposed plan for Sawyer County’s opioid‑settlement funds at the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council meeting. Staff said a beginning balance going into 2025 is about $296,000 and proposed an illustrative plan that would spend $100,000 each year from 2025 through 2029 to rapidly expand services and taper allocations in later years.

Joyce summarized past and anticipated activity funded through multiple sources and said the county has distributed naloxone widely (reporting more than 1,100 boxes distributed) and supported widespread overdose education. She said the program has evaluated harm‑reduction options and decided not to pursue supervised injection or a needle‑exchange program based on local interviews indicating most overdoses occur in private homes.

Recommendations presented for Exhibit E spending categories included small promotional funding for drug takeback ($1,500), prevention campaigns (notably school vaping education), medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) support for jail and community providers, support for peer recovery coaches, sober‑activity offerings, and family wraparound supports (parenting classes, child care, housing assistance) for families affected by opioid use disorder. Joyce also recommended funding an average of about eight hours per week of public‑health staff time for prevention planning, data collection, grant writing and peer recovery oversight.

Members discussed priorities and posed operational questions about how MAT (Suboxone) would be provided; presenters said community MAT access is through local treatment providers and that the jail can provide MAT to those already on it but cannot currently perform inductions (starting MAT) in custody, though training and grants are underway to expand capacity. No formal vote was taken; members asked staff to return with detailed breakdowns of spending options and MAT cost implications at a future meeting.