Substance Use Prevention Coalition Meets for New Year Updates; Free Narcan Available to the Community

[January 12, 2024] 

The Substance Use Prevention Coalition (SUPC) held its January meeting on Thursday, January 11 at Lincoln Memorial Hospital (LMH). Led by Nadia Klekamp of Chestnut Health Systems, participants delivered updates regarding area initiatives to address substance use across the continuum, starting with prevention. Prevention initiatives include a poster campaign in schools. Posters have been provided to area schools and at sports events targeting parents about the importance of substance use prevention. High school students have received anti-vaping postcards from designated tables set up at schools. Prevention education for 7th graders concluded last semester, and 6th graders will receive prevention education in the spring semester. All Lincoln schools, except West Lincoln-Broadwell and Chester-East Lincoln, have signed up for the Illinois Youth Survey, which is a self-reported student survey about health-related topics administered every three years.

Harm Reduction Updates

SUPC Prevention updates were followed by Harm Reduction updates. A new law as of January 1 requires all schools to have Narcan (generic name: naloxone, a medication given to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids, particularly opioid overdose) on the premises. Logan County Health Department Director of Nursing Kara Davis reported that she has provided Narcan training to educators in all Lincoln schools with the exception of Carroll Catholic and Zion Lutheran. She said that she began training by relating the recent story of a group of grade school children who were poisoned by fentanyl when a child brought what he thought were gummy candies to school and shared them with friends. The children survived, but the incident underscores how prevalent fentanyl laced drugs are and how easily an accidental overdose could happen. The Logan County Health Department has given away 360 boxes of Narcan since October 1, 2023. Davis has ordered 480 more boxes to have available for free at the Health Department located at 109 Third Street, Lincoln. The harm reduction vending machine at Family Custom Cleaners has provided 547 free Narcan boxes, almost as many free fentanyl test strips, and 424 free xylazine test strips. The Logan County Health Department has safe drug disposal drop-off, as well as local pharmacies. The Health Department has applied for a grant to provide sharps disposal, with plans to introduce this service in the near future.

Community Health Needs Assessment Survey

The Community Health Needs Assessment Survey goes live online in February. Paper copies are also available. Molly McCain, Community Health Coordinator at LMH, is looking for focus groups to participate, particularly in small towns. Focus groups have been secured at the fire department and with other first responders. The survey is valuable because it collects information about what the community sees as most important, and this information will provide the focus for LMH community development for the next three years.

SUPC to identify risk factors for alcohol, gaming, smoking and vaping

The SUPC is making plans for an environmental scan to assess alcohol, gaming, smoking, and vaping outlets in Logan County. The goals are to ascertain what youth are being exposed to and to identify community risk factors that can contribute to underage use. The next step is to gather data about which establishments have liquor licenses, then visit area establishments to see ads and marketing and placement of goods for sale, such as vaping pens sold next to candy. Lincoln is at the maximum for the number of gaming establishments. Lincoln also just added two new liquor establishments. The SUPC set an initial goal of visiting 25% of relevant establishments across the county. Next month Klekamp will have a plan for site visits.

Hope on Fifth

The Fifth Street location currently undergoing renovations in order to house a number of community services has been officially named Hope on Fifth. Monday, January 15, volunteers will help clean the building for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. A couple of the front areas are finished, including Judge Tom Funk’s office for use as a free legal clinic. The kitchen is almost finished, currently awaiting hot water. A grant was awarded in January to redo the HVAC and plumbing systems. Hope on Fifth will provide temporary and emergency housing for veterans and others while providing “wrap around” services. Various service agencies will be available to work with clients. It will become a kind of community center, possibly used for community events. The Salvation Army is working on becoming another agency present in the building. Once completed, there is potential for the space to be a winter warming center.

Free bowling February 4th

SUPC has scheduled a Free Bowling event for families on February 4, 2024 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at Logan Lanes in Lincoln. The event will include free shoe rental, free food, and free giveaways. It is sponsored by Lincoln/Logan Crimestoppers, LMH, and ROSC. Prizes will be provided by the Gateway Foundation and Crimestoppers, and there will be educational displays with information about healthy lifestyles and area resources.

Recovery program updates

Approval has been received to implement Medication-Assisted Recovery (MAR) at the Lincoln jail. The program will be administered by Illinois Health Management Associates. Those in jail with a substance use issue can be provided medication to alleviate withdrawal symptoms which aids in recovery and allows a safer return to the community. The current local jail population is reduced from previous numbers due to Illinois’s no-bail law.

Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) is looking to host trainings for peers and the community. They plan to offer recovery meetings at the jail and they are planning to host a community movie. The next ROSC meeting is January 18 at 2 p.m. via Zoom.

The Safe Passages program, designed to help people find detoxification programs and treatment, was passed from the local police department to Carle. If a person presents for treatment, Trillium on Keokuk will assist in connecting them with resources. Oxford House has also assisted getting people into treatment. Oxford House is currently at capacity. Diamond has moved on from Oxford House and Calen is the new president of the Oxford House.

McCain updated door hanger information lists of community help and resource numbers in July. She is currently working on reformatting them in order to fit more information as Logan County develops more resources. These are useful for rescue squads and first responders to leave behind after calls in the community. They are also effectively placed at restaurants and hotels.

Opioid settlement funds have been released to the counties. Copies of the Illinois opioid settlements can be viewed at https://nationalopioidsettlement.
com/illinois/. 

The next SUPC meeting is scheduled for February 8, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. at LMH. The next Community Health Collaborative meeting is on March 7 at Lincoln Park District with an option to join virtually.

[Stephanie Hall]