Year after year, Ohio’s opioid epidemic continues to worsen. And Northeast Ohio is not immune to this issue, you can go to almost any town and see the impact of this crisis. On The Sound of Ideas Community Tour, we went to one community, Lake County, to find out how residents and community leaders have been working together to tackle opioid addiction. In November, Lake county passed a levy that would add funding to the child services department, to keep up with the demand of children being brought into county custody due to their guardian’s addiction. The county’s crime lab has seen a major increase of newer and more lethal versions of the drug fentanyl in the last year. But the county is also working on news ways to solve combat the epidemic. In November, three local organizations launched “Operation Resolve,” an initiative to aid local businesses in the fight against drug abuse and addiction. We met in Mentor, Lake County’s largest city, to have a community conversation about opioids.
-Kim Fraser, Executive Director, Lake County ADAMHS Board
-Jackie L., In Recovery,
-Matt Battiato, Director, Lake County Job & Family Services
-Dan Dunlap, Lake County Sheriff
-Larry Smith, Program Director, Lake County Sheriff’s Jail Treatment Program
-Bill Porter, Superintendent, Mentor Schools
-Jessie Baginski, President and CEO, Leadership Lake County
