Time to ‘triple-down’ on drug abuse recovery services, federal leader says at Kentucky stop
After years of precipitous post-pandemic increases, drug overdose deaths nationwide have largely flattened, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the White House drug czar, told a gathering of reporters Thursday in Clay County.
The country is at an “inflection point” in combating the opioid epidemic, said Gupta, adding that it was time to “triple-down” on efforts to lessen drug overdose deaths. Gupta, who was appointed to his White House role in 2021, was also by joined by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, as well as state, local and non-profit leaders.
On the frontline of those efforts is the non-profit Volunteers of America Mid-States. The organization has put over $20 million in federal, state and local resources to work in offering addiction recovery services in southeast Kentucky, said Jennifer Hancock, the president and CEO for VOA Mid-States. Due to recent success, the organization plans to expand its services in the state.
“This is where the rubber meets the road,” Gupta said. “This is where people’s lives are being saved.”
The non-profit offers workforce re-entry services, transitional housing and a program that seeks to stabilize and reunify families with a history of substance-use disorders.
“When you send money down, you wonder if it ever did any good,” said McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, who was part of past efforts to get federal funding for VOA work locally. “This has been an outstanding success story.”
McConnell, the commonwealth’s longest-serving senator, has helped deliver over $650 million in federal funding to build up Kentucky’s prevention, treatment and enforcement efforts, his office said.
Much like the national trends, Kentucky’s overdose deaths have flattened or decreased slightly.
Last year there were 2,135 overdose deaths in Kentucky, an annual fatality report released by the state in April showed.
That figure marked a more than 5% decrease from 2021 — where a record 2,257 people died from overdose — but was still higher than pre-pandemic fatality levels. In 2019, the state recorded 1,316 overdose deaths.
According to the 2022 report, five Eastern Kentucky counties — Bath, Lee, Floyd, Estill and Knott — had the highest overdose mortality rates in the state. Almost every county in the state reported overdose deaths. Jefferson County, the most populous, reported 505 deaths.
VOA will be expanding its services to Rockcastle, Pulaski and Lincoln counties, Hancock said. Additionally, the non-profit opened a restorative justice office in London and a workforce re-entry program with the city government in Corbin.
In Manchester, the seat of Clay County, the non-profit has operated a Freedom House facility since 2020 that offers substance abuse treatment for mothers, Hancock said. VOA plans to double the size of the program as the facility, which was funded through a state funds and a federal grant, is constantly at capacity.
“We will be able to serve an additional 150 families per year,” Hancock said. “None of this success would be possible without the collaboration and support of our elected officials, our philanthropic partners and this entire community.”
Clay County recorded a dozen overdose deaths in 2022 — down from 16 a year prior. The decrease is creditable to a holistic approach of “intervention, rehab, education, training, jobs and transitional housing,” said Republican state Sen. Robert Stivers, who hails from Manchester.
When asked if he thought the indictments against former President Donald Trump could affect next year’s Republican Senate campaigns, McConnell said he wasn’t going to comment on the candidates in next year’s presidential race.