CUYAHOGA FALLS: A new Summit County program will kick off in Cuyahoga Falls on Tuesday, when a quick-response team begins going to homes to offer help to opiate addicts.
Mayor Don Walters, Fire Chief Paul Moledor and Police Chief Jack Davis explained the program this week during a news conference at City Hall. The initiative is based on a program running for more than a year in Colerain Township, a Cincinnati suburb.
“We are doing this to address a crisis in our community,” Walters said. “People are hurting and losing their lives here and everywhere.”
Davis said a counselor from the County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board (ADM) or Oriana House will join a plainclothes police officer and firefighter/paramedic to visit homes of known opiate addicts.
The outreach will be based on previous calls for overdoses, as well as concerns raised by community members. Police will be there to help, not charge, drug addicts.
“We’ve identified people who need immediate help,” Walters said. “We’re going to reach out, and we’re going to keep coming back until we can get you help.”
Reached by phone after the news conference, ADM Executive Director Jerry Craig said six other Summit County communities — Akron, Barberton, Coventry Township, Green, Norton and Tallmadge — also expressed interest in forming their own quick response teams after attending a Dec. 9 workshop about the Colerain program.
Craig said Tallmadge officials will begin a similar initiative Wednesday, and Barberton is slated to start within a few weeks.
In the Falls, leaders are excited to be able to offer help to those who are hurting because of opiate addiction, whether personally or through family and friends.
“We’re looking at a toolbox approach to opiate addiction, and this is another tool,” Davis said. “We’ve been doing a lot of education, and we do a lot of enforcement on the police department. It’s a problem we just can’t fix, so we’re doing everything in our power.”
Moledor said police and firefighter/paramedics volunteered to work as part of the response team as part of their regular schedule on Tuesdays.
Walters wasn’t surprised.
“Overdose runs wear them down,” he said.
Moledor wants to get word that help is available to people and families who are struggling.
“They may not want help today, but when they do, there is help,” Moledor said.
If someone the team visits is amenable to getting help, arrangements will be made the same day. If inpatient rehab is required and there is no bed available, a counselor will stay in touch with the person, supplying detox or other services until a bed is available, Walters said.
“If someone is not home, we’ll leave a handwritten note, and we’ll be back,” Walters said. “We’ll take referrals.”
ADM works with six providers who can provide care for those who are uninsured.
Walters said the program won’t cost the city additional money, since there will be no overtime involved.
“At some point, we’re going to save money,” Walters said. “It will be a whole lot cheaper for our community to prevent an overdose situation with a squad run to the hospital or death. By being proactive, it’s going to save the city’s resources. More importantly, it’s going to save lives.”
Walters called the opiate problem a community crisis.
“When there was a plane crash in Akron, the mayor could pick up the phone and ask for help from other agencies,” he said. “If a tornado came through here tonight, I could call the American Red Cross or FEMA. This crisis is different. We can’t have everyone swarm in to Cuyahoga Falls because it’s everywhere.
“It falls on us to tackle the crisis head-on.”
Contact Gina Mace at ginamace2@gmail.com.