Grady County kicks off Opioid Abatement Program
OKARR is a nonprofit organization started in 2024 with the goal of providing grant writing and project management services and ensuring impactful projects are successfully funded and executed. The kick-off event, held at the Grady County Sheriff's Office, introduced the partners involved in the opioid abatement program and the services it will provide to the community.
According to Suzanne Williams, executive director of OKARR, Grady County received $150,000 to be used over an 18-month period.
The Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Grant is handled by the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office and provides funding for applications for treatment and recovery programs, assistance with occurring disorders and mental health issues, opioid abuse education and prevention, and more.
Partners present at the kick-off event for the program, entitled Hope and Healing, include the Grady County Sheriff's Office, Verden Police Department, Ocarta and the District Attorney's Office.
The opioid abatement grant and subsequent programs started in Grady County in December, according to Williams.
'So what does that bring to Grady County? It brings a task force to really focus on what is working, what's already being done in Grady County so it's not duplicative,' Williams said. 'What individuals need to be at the table.'
The first Grady County task force meeting was held April 24 with community leaders from various organizations. During the task force meeting and other meetings leading up to applying for the grant, Williams said community members voiced the need for a sober living facility and Ocarta was selected as the nonprofit organization to run a Level 2 sober living facility for women and women with children.
'All of our houses are protected by the Federal Supreme Court ruling, meaning they're considered single-family dwellings. They don't have to go through a planning committee or get a permit or any of those types of things because they are single-family dwellings,' Williams said. 'Level 2 has a house manager and they're connected to resources, but most of those resources are already existing in the community.'
Another need brought to OKARR's attention was school-based education on opioids in the Verden School District. Ninnekah Public Schools has also joined the education program since it started.
Grady County Sheriff Gary Boggess said he is going to work on getting the education programs in every school in the county.
The education is mainly for high school and middle school students but will also be offering a prescription education program over the summer geared towards parents. Williams said it will help teacher parents understand what opioids and other drugs look like, how to use narcan and other information to keep children safe.
'We do have a drug issue,' Boggess said. 'It's been coming across the borders for years and years and years. Yes, the borders are being shut down, but if you think that's gonna stop this, it's not. It's absolutely not.'
The Grady County Undersheriff is on the Grady County Task Force, and Boggess said he will try to attend as many meetings as he can to help address the opioid issue in Grady County.
'I think this program will help us get some of the ones that you get started in it that we can get a hold of, try to help get them on the right path and get them the right education on this,' Boggess said.
Managing Assistant District Attorney Jeff Siffers said he is not seeing as many drug crimes in drug court anymore because the statute has limited the 'amount of accessibility' based on trafficking and other specific exclusions.
While optimistic about the program, he said he has concerns certain individuals who are repeat offenders and take advantage of the current services provided, that those individuals will do the same with the opioid abatement program services. He specifically mentioned transportation services being taken advantage of.
'Where I really would love to see this partnership go is finding the opportunity to restrict the amount of opportunities that young people have to become the parents that may have been the people that I've put in custody,' Siffers said.
Verden Chief of Police Jason Cox said he equates the opioid issue in the area to mass casualty events in terms of training. For mass casualty events, officers are trained to end the threat, protect the victims and control the scene.
'That's how we kind of approached this, all hands on deck, in my town for opioid stuff,' Cox said.
He said he has often received backlash for the department driving someone to Southeast Oklahoma for rehabilitation programs. This opioid abatement grant will help free up some of the funding and labor his department has been using to address opioid issues in Verden.
'Coming back to the crisis, you may not think it's a very urgent matter until you're squirting narcan up somebody's nose and they're blue,' he said. 'That seems urgent to me.'
The county, municipalities and school districts are able to apply for another round of the Opioid Abatement Program in the coming weeks, Williams said. The deadline is June 11 for a three-year grant that could provide up to $450,000.
For more information about OKARR or to provide input on what services could benefit Grady County in terms of the opioid crisis, visit https://okarr.org.
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