The Greene County Overdose Task Force held a public meeting last Monday, March 26. The task force, which was formed earlier this year and includes voices from several groups in the community, invited the public to hear from law enforcement professionals and recovery advocates.

Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman, a member of the task force, said the meeting was set with the goal of opening a new channel of communication to address certain misconceptions about overdose care in hospitals and law enforcement. After hearing from Troy Rivetti, chief of violent crimes section of the U.S. attorney’s office in Pittsburgh, and Ashley Potts, a recovery advocate, about these two perspectives, the audience broke into groups to learn specifics from the individuals.

Zimmerman attended Potts’ presentation on the healthcare and recovery perspective.

“A lot of people don’t understand the red tape of government and what it actually takes to get somebody committed,” he said, describing the process of committing recovering addicts to hospitals. Often, an addict must detox and remain drug-free for 4-5 days before they are even able to enter treatment.

In the other session, Rivetti explained how law enforcement across the nation is trying to stem the flow of drugs across borders and through prescriptions, domestically.

“There is not a quick fix [for the opioid crisis],” said Zimmerman. “But I guess the goal is to get people to talk about it, and get a perspective of what might make things a little bit better and what might help try to control it.”

Karen Bennett, director of Greene County Human Services, said Rivetti also fielded questions from concerned audience members to address public fears about the opioid crisis. He spoke of the roles played by Pennsylvania State Police and other local law enforcement units.

“Their concern is what is law enforcement doing about this problem?” said Bennett. “He took all kinds of questions from the audience, based on these concerns that people had…like, why does it take so long for people to be investigated…?

One key development that was made public at the meeting was the acquisition of “addiction navigators,” Bennett said. Through a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, along with collaboration among different local agencies, a team is coming together to hire individuals to help along the recovery process, according the The Observer-Reporter. Navigators will partner with hospital staff and Greene County Human Services to provide a point of contact for anyone in the midst of recovery.

Bennett said the addition of navigators is an exciting development to how the county is addressing the overdose issue.

“They will be available in non-traditional hours…to go out and work with overdose survivors and try to get them into treatment,” she said. “As well as a bigger thing, I think, they’re going to do, is work with families and significant others to understand addiction, help their loved one get help and be there for support.”

Right now, Bennett said the task force is compiling information and resource packets for outreach purposes and planning to train navigators. They are working closely with Steps Inside, which holds Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings within the community.

The task force’s objective at all times, Zimmerman said, is to keep the conversation going. No one knows the right answer, so this is all we can do, he said.

“It’s one of those things where I can ask you, and I can ask anyone: what can we do?” he said. “And as a county commissioner, I wish I had an answer…[We’re] digging and looking for answers that maybe people haven’t answered yet so we can maybe save some lives.”

The task force was organized by the University of Pittsburgh and modelled after the school’s successful program in Washington County. It was formed earlier this year and includes community members from a variety of disciplines: health care, law enforcement, the coroner’s office, education, religious groups and others. Together, the group is attempting to bring changes to how the community addresses the drug epidemic, Zimmerman said.

The task force will be holding private meetings in April and May, and another community report in June. In the long term, Zimmerman said the task force’s grand plan to implement change will take place during the next three years.

“Ultimately, we just want to make things…better for everybody,” he said. “It’s an awful [situation]. This just seems to be at its worst. We’re seeing so many deaths from this.”