Manatee was recently recognized as the top-performing county in Florida at reducing opioid-caused deaths.
The county is part of the state's Coordinated Opioid Recovery Network, or CORE, which connects people in need of resources to treatment, psychiatric care, housing services and more.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is awarding a total of $2 million to the top 10 performing counties, and Manatee is receiving $500,000 of that.
Here are the 10 counties rewarded by CORE:
- Bay - $200,000
- Broward - $200,000
- Clay - $200,000
- Duval - $200,000
- Escambia - $200,000
- Gulf - $200,000
- Hernando - $200,000
- Manatee - $500,000
- Miami-Dade - $200,000
- Okaloosa - $200,000
Thu Le, Manatee's health care services program manager, said the program is one of three initiatives that brought the county from being at the epicenter of the opioid epidemic to where it is now.
“We really rely on our partnerships, and we're also meeting people where they are and providing them immediate connection to resources, which is something that has helped a lot,” she said.
The other two initiatives are the Overdose Prevention and Education Program, or OPEP, which distributes free Narcan and offers overdose prevention training, and the Helping Up Mission, or HUM, a long-term residential recovery program based in Baltimore that takes in participants.
Le said the efforts are the county’s response to community demand for long-term treatment options.
“Through the community health assessments and other surveys that we've had, it has shown time and time again that behavioral health, mental health is something that the community is interested in, that they do see a problem that they want more resources for,” she said.
In addition, CORE is described as an alternative to the “traditional” overdose response, which usually includes patients being taken to the emergency room and eventually discharged, often leading them back to substance use.
Instead, the program “meets people where they are,” which Le said allows participants to connect with their community and learn to be self-sufficient.
“These patients are not only going through this recovery program, but they are getting connected to housing services and vocational and educational services so that they can be more self-sufficient later on in life after they're done with the program,” she said.
CORE is funded by the state, with no cost for enrolled patients.
“It costs more to go to the hospital or the ER for treatment than it is to seek a community provider,” Le said. “And sometimes, depending on what services you're seeking, there is a wait time. But with CORE, if you say yes, then they will see you immediately.”
Le said the award money will help continue the work that is already being done, as well as possibly expand the program’s eligibility pool.
