Substance Abuse Intervention Programming Update
In May 14th’s Social Services and Public Safety Committee, Substance Use Disorder Intervention Coordinator Carmen Combs Mark presented an update on the substance abuse intervention work in Lexington.
Fayette County is heavily impacted by overdose deaths and substance abuse. In 2023, there were 1,998 overdoses in Lexington, with 177 of those being fatal.
Lexington’s Overdose Prevention Coordinator, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, and other partners have conducted naloxone training and distribution across Lexington, including at non-traditional locations such as bus stops and gas stations where a high need for naloxone distribution was identified.
LFUCG has also been operating the Recovery Supportive Living Assistance, which provides those who face financial barriers toward accessing recovery housing up to $400 in one-time funds. The program assisted 500 individuals so far in Fiscal Year 2024.
The Opioid Abatement Commission has been meeting monthly to discuss how to manage Lexington’s Opioid Abatement Settlement Funds. Over the next 16 years, Lexington will receive yearly payments that will total $14,332,969. These payments come from litigation against large opioid manufacturers and distributors. To date, Lexington has received $5.9 million of these funds.
The Opioid Abatement Commission meets every second Friday of the month at 10am in Council Chambers. Their meetings are open to the public.
Many of Councilmembers’ questions centered on sober living homes throughout Lexington. Sober living homes are spread throughout many neighborhoods in Lexington, and there is no firm count on how many are located in Lexington. In the most recent legislative session, the Kentucky General Assembly passed HB 248 requiring sober living homes to be certified by an approved agency. Combs Marks’s office is working to educate sober living facilities about the new law and help them achieve certification by the end of the calendar year.
Councilmembers also asked when they could expect to see the Opioid Abatement Commission’s recommendations on how to spend the millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds Lexington is receiving. Combs Marks said that while the group does not have a specific deadline to finish these recommendations, they are expected to complete their work in the next few months.
You can review the presentation slides starting on page eight of this packet. No action was taken on this item.
