Mayor Terry Announces Opioid Settlement Fund Recipients

Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry tonight requested that Evansville City Council approve the distribution of more than $1.2 million in Opioid Settlement Funds to organizations helping battle the opioid epidemic.

If approved, the funds would be distributed to six organizations focused on reaching populations most vulnerable to opioid abuse, and working with them in what research has found to be their most influential moments.

"In considering the applications we received, we saw opportunities to reach our homeless population; we saw opportunities to reach individuals as they enter - or to stay with them as they exit - the criminal justice system," said Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry. "The committee saw these as real opportunities to make a difference in people's lives, and I agree, which is why I am asking the Council to approve the distribution of funds when the ordinance goes to second reading on September 23."

If approved, the organizations and programs receiving funds would be:

YWCA Evansville: Say YES! To Sobriety and Self-Sufficiency - $200,000

The YES! (YWCA Embracing Sobriety) program was established in 2001 to meet the growing need for services for homeless women in Southern Indiana seeking to overcome addiction and work toward self-sufficiency. YES! is very much focused on supporting women as they transition from homelessness, addiction, and despair to self-sufficiency. This is a structured, 12-month residential program, where women must complete detoxification and agree to comply with the guidelines of the program. Those guidelines include:

· Completing an individual development plan to set personal goals· Attending AA/NA meetings· Securing a sponsor· Following up on referrals for services· Submitting to random testing, and· Securing employment.

As clients work to maintain sobriety and achieve their personal goals, they are provided food, shelter, clothing, and personal care items, and are given access to on-site counseling, recovery education materials, support groups, 24-hour staffing, life skills training, employment counseling, educational opportunities, linkage to community services, assistance with securing permanent housing, and follow-up services.

The ultimate goals of YES! are for women to learn to live substance-free and become self-sufficient so they can exit the YWCA into permanent housing.

Evansville Rescue Mission: Recovery Program of the Evansville Rescue Mission - $150,000

The Evansville Rescue Mission interacts with hundreds of individuals on an annual basis, many of whom are addicted to opioids. Through its extensive, award-winning recovery program, ERM attempts to get at the root causes of opioid addiction so that a comprehensive treatment program can be individually developed between residents and the ERM case management team. Treatment and interdiction programs include groups through the OASIS program: classes, individual counseling, and Change in Orientation Group on site, as well as external addiction groups, support, and counseling through partner agencies, and in-patient services externally.

In addition to its current services as the largest homeless services provider in the region, ERM is preparing to open the Susan H. Snyder Center for Women and Children, putting ERM in the position to offer opioid interdiction to approximately 70 percent of the homeless population in the region.

Funding from the Opioid Settlement Fund will be used to help pay for adequate funding of staff to oversee, maintain, and lead ERM's interdiction and programmatic efforts.

Vanderburgh County Mental Health Court: Mental Health Court - $96,000

Vanderburgh County Mental Health Court is a problem-solving court certified by the Indiana Office of Court Services, serving some of the most vulnerable citizens in our community. While all VCMHC participants are diagnosed with a verified mental health disorder, 58 percent are also diagnosed with substance use disorder.

Funding from the Opioid Settlement Fund will be used to hire a full-time case manager, allowing the court to increase participants by an estimated 50 percent; to purchase drug screens and fund lab confirmatory services; and to ease transportation burden on participants.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office: Recovery Community Organization - $250,000

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office has partnered with Mental Health America of Indiana to join the Integrated Reentry and Correctional Support program, assisting incarcerated individuals who are battling substance use disorders. A key element in making this program a success is providing a recovery community for those who are reintegrating into society, post-incarceration.

Funding from the Opioid Settlement Fund will be used to establish a Recovery Community Organization (RCO), which will provide comprehensive support services to individuals affected by substance use disorder, fostering a community of healing, advocacy and hope. Through peer coaching and harm reduction initiatives, the RCO aims to reduce the negative consequences of opioid use while promoting pathways to recovery and wellness.

Evansville Police Department: Tackling the Opioid Epidemic - $275,826

The Evansville Police Department, as part of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Joint Drug Task Force, will use Opioid Settlement Funds to directly focus on investigating individuals and residences related to distributing and/or using opioids. This includes:

· Purchasing equipment to provide electronic evidence recordings, which can be used in prosecuting opioid dealers/users; as well as encrypted electronic communications· Funding investigations of dealers involved in an overdose death, which requires many hours of investigative work to complete cell phone search warrants, social media account search warrants, Google search warrants, and other evidentiary procedures· Manpower to conduct surveillance, controlled buys, traffic stops, and/or search warrants necessary to secure arrests of users and dealers.

The Women's Hospital: Perinatal Support Consult Program - $231,080

According to the 2023 Indiana Maternal Mortality Report, overdose was the leading cause of pregnancy-associated deaths from 2018-2021. Because research has shown that many in that population are not prepared for the impact of their substance use disorder and the special care needs of their infants - and because evidence also supports that pregnancy is the most influential time for a person with substance use disorder to make a change - the Women's Hospital developed the Perinatal Support Program in 2019.

This program offers a prenatal, multidisciplinary consult for patients with substance abuse disorder, offering them an opportunity to sit down with a neonatologist, social worker, educator, and lactation consultant to provide an individualized treatment plan, care navigation, and support. Offering this opportunity prior to hospital admission - where evidence shows that patients with substance use disorder are less likely to engage in care due to fear of their child being removed from their care - allows the patient to ask questions, and to receive support and reassurance from their providers.

An allocation from the Opioid Settlement Fund will be used to increase accessibility to the Perinatal Support Program consults, as well as to NICU Developmental Clinic Appointments. This will improve the likelihood that patients engage or remain engaged in their treatment program, while also providing timely developmental interventions for high-risk infants.

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These six programs were recommended to Mayor Terry by a committee she formed in April, comprised of experts and community stakeholders. That committee, which was tasked with developing criteria and evaluating applications, was led by Deputy Mayor Lindsay Locasto and Communications Director Joe Atkinson, and was comprised of:

• State Representative Ryan Hatfield
• Lisa Seif, LCSW
• Assistant Police Chief Nathan Hassler
• Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman
• Larissa Martin-Madison, MSN-Ed, RN, IBCLC, RLC

The group reviewed a total of 22 applications received in late Spring, after Mayor Terry's office announced a request for such proposals. In total, those requests represented more than $4.4 million in programs aimed at combating opioids in Evansville. At the time, the city had $940,540.27 in "restricted" funds, which must be used for opioid addiction, treatment, and harm reduction purposes; and another $371.028.44 is in "unrestricted" funds, which can be used for non-opioid purposes.

Those funds are part of a $54 billion federal settlement agreement reached in 2021 with Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. At the time, Indiana learned it would receive $507 million of those funds over an 18-year period; the funds Mayor Terry is requesting City Council approve distributing includes funds remaining from the city's allocation in 2023, as well as nearly all of its 2024 allocation.

Evansville is scheduled to receive additional funds, which will likely be distributed through a similar process, in 2025.

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