Road to Recovery: Improving Substance Use Disorder Services in Milwaukee County. Executive Summary

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9

Substance Abuse; County Programs; Addictive Behavior; Alcohol Abuse; Drug Abuse; Services; Adults; Intervention; Program Improvement; Prevention; Health Education; Court Litigation; Financial Support; Clinics

This is the executive summary for the report, "Road to Recovery: Improving Substance Use Disorder Services in Milwaukee County." The challenges associated with alcohol and substance use disorders (SUDs) in Wisconsin and Milwaukee County are well-documented and severe. Milwaukee County's Behavioral Health Services (BHS) has led efforts to combat these challenges in the county for decades, both as a direct service provider and as a coordinator of services provided by dozens of community agencies. BHS now has an opportunity to fortify its programming and amplify its leading role in the overall county-wide effort to effectively address SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery. Wisconsin stands to receive more than $400 million as part of a national legal settlement related to opioid abuse with several major drug distribution and manufacturing companies, and Milwaukee County expects to receive more than $70 million from those payments. The county also may be able to access significant funding amounts to support its SUD programming from other new federal sources. To ensure that these substantial infusions of resources are spent wisely and effectively, BHS leaders approached the Wisconsin Policy Forum in late 2021 for assistance in enhancing understanding of the SUD provider landscape in the county--both for itself and for other stakeholders and the general public. This report is the outcome of that effort. [For the full report, see ED624660.]

ERIC

2022

ED624661