Brown County, Wis. – Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach, along with Brown County Sheriff Todd Delain, Health and Human Services Executive Director Jeremy Kral, and Brown County Board of Supervisors Chairman Patrick Buckley announced a proposed Opioid Action Plan that outlines how Brown County will allocate its allotment of opioid settlement funds.
“In September of 2022, I declared a Community Health Crisis in Brown County due to the spike in opioid overdose deaths involving fentanyl,” says Streckenbach. “Since that time, Brown County has worked hard to increase awareness of this public health and safety issue. These funds from pill manufacturers, distributors, and retailers who acknowledged their role in this crisis will further enable Brown County to enact strategies to reduce the deadly impact opioids and other illegal synthetic drugs are having on our community.”
The proposed resolution will be voted on by the Brown County Board of Supervisors at its meeting on Wednesday February 15th, 2022, at the Resch Expo. The Opioid Action Plan was formed in collaboration between the Health and Human Services Department and the Sheriff’s Office and features a four-pronged approach that focuses on areas of prevention, treatment, recovery, and enforcement.
“Brown County has seen annual overdose deaths surge since 2018 to the point where they comprise one-third of all autopsies performed. These tragedies involve people’s loved ones across all spectrums, including last year a baby just 16 months old,” says Buckley. “These funds provide Brown County a unique opportunity to explore new approaches to address this serious issue and help save the lives of family members, friends, and neighbors.”
If approved, funds will be invested over a 10-year period to hire a clinical professional with disciplines in mental health treatment and addiction, to disburse a grant for local non-hospital detox services, to offer sober living support and case management for 10 to 12 new clients, and to hire 2 new investigators within the Brown County Drug Task Force focusing investigating lethal and non-lethal opioid overdoses. This proposal includes an annual review of these expenditures to assure the methods chosen to abate the opioid crisis are effective.
