By JAMES BROWN
Glasgow News 1
The Barren County Opioid Settlement Committee had its first meeting Monday morning. Bethany Steenbergen was elected to chair the committee going forward. Adam Bow was elected co-chair.
Steenbergen is an Alternative Sentencing Worker in the local public defender’s office. She assists individuals in navigating substance abuse treatment and recovery paths that are available to them.
Magistrate Marty Kinslow said he recommended Steenbergen to chair the committee after he learned about “her vast knowledge on this topic.”
The seven-member committee is comprised of the county judge-executive, the county sheriff, the county jailer, the county attorney, two magistrates, and a citizen representative. Bow won the May primary for sheriff and is running unopposed in the November general election. Present sheriff Kent Keen is retiring.
The elected committee members are comprised of whomever holds the office at the time. Presently they are Jamie Bewley Byrd, judge-executive, Aaron Shirley, jailer, Mike Richardson, county attorney, and Kinslow and Tim Durham, magistrates. Steenbergen is the citizen member.
This committee is charged with managing and distributing local opioid abatement settlement funds that stem from a 2017 federal lawsuit.
The committee started by working through a needs assessment based on the recovery ready communities certification program.
Lauren Carr, the opioid settlement advisor for the Kentucky Association of Counties, joined the meeting via Zoom. She said the needs assessment was not required, but did help pinpoint the addiction recovery gaps.
“Clark County did their assessment and one of the two areas they showed a gap was recovery housing and then a jail reentry program,” she said. “They used that as a roadmap.”
There were several criteria the committee covered Monday, from housing to health care to addressing stigmatism associated with having addiction issues.
Each area will be scored to determine the most critical need for those who are facing addiction issues.
For some of the criteria, such as those associated with medical information available at community hospitals or programs offered through businesses, Steenbergen said more information is needed before they can be scored. She said they will get that information and have the criteria scored by the next meeting on Sept. 14.
The agenda provided before Monday’s meeting set out the timeline and objectives for each meeting. The Sept. 14 meeting was set as finalize the evaluation criteria and the application. The applications will be available to the public on Sept. 17.
“We’ll finalize the applications, how much grant is going to go where, and what those look like on [Sept. 14] and get those out and available to the public on [Sept. 17],” Steenbergen confirmed at the end of the meeting.
Organizations in Barren County that offer addiction recovery or assistance programs can apply for grants that come from the opioid abatement funds available to the county.
The county began receiving its opioid abatement funds in August 2023, which total around $500,000. The funds have accrued interest at a 6% awaiting the decisions on where the monies will be spent.
Suggestions made by the committee will then be forwarded to the full fiscal court for final approval before being distributed.
The other key dates for the committee are: Oct. 15, applications due; Oct. 19, evaluate applications; Nov. 16, interview final candidates; and Dec. 14, award grants.
