At the National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference, county leaders and health professionals stressed that declining overdose death rates do not mean the substance use crisis is behind us. Instead, they point to the progress of harm reduction and the urgent need to sustain and expand evidence-based strategies.
At the NACo conference, panelists on an overdose prevention panel agreed that engaging people with lived experience is central to effective programming. One Day at a Time, a Philadelphia-based organization, demonstrates the power of peer support: more than 80 percent of its staff have experienced homelessness, and its outreach team connects individuals with housing, healthcare, and same-day employment opportunities that remove barriers to recovery.
From the article:
While fewer people are dying of drug overdoses, that doesn’t mean fewer people are struggling with substance use disorder, but instead that more people are surviving overdoses, thanks to increased harm reduction initiatives, like widespread distribution of Naloxone.
Investing in evidence-based approaches also makes long-term fiscal sense. Panelists point to proven interventions such as medication for opioid use disorder and Naloxone distribution, which dramatically reduce fatalities. Stressed that meeting basic needs like housing and healthcare may appear costly, but it pays dividends by improving community health and interrupting cycles of addiction.
As previously covered on Conduit Street, localized remediation efforts have been highly responsive to the unique needs of individual communities, which often differ across jurisdictions. Local agencies have swiftly implemented several tactics to put settlement funds to effective use:
- medication assisted treatment
- crisis intervention and stabilization
- harm reduction services
- linkage to care
- mobile crisis response units
- peer specialists and coordination
- school-based prevention
- recovery housing
- naloxone distribution
States are also taking steps to support this work. Pennsylvania’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs has distributed more than 820,000 doses of Naloxone and launched a student loan repayment program to address workforce shortages in addiction treatment. So far, more than 500 workers have benefitted, with some seeing their student debt eliminated.
The takeaway for counties is clear: effective overdose prevention requires both upstream investments and on-the-ground engagement. By centering the voices of people with lived experience, supporting peer-led initiatives, and prioritizing evidence-based strategies, counties can save lives and strengthen community health systems for the long run.