Commission approves RESTART staffing expansions

Nov. 16—LENOIR — The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners has approved the expansion of the RESTART program with opioid grant funds.

During the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, Nov. 14, Emergency Medical Services Director Jonathan Cook requested approval of a budget amendment for additional opioid grant funding in order to expand RESTART staffing positions.

Caldwell County RESTART (Recognize, Educate, Stabilize, Transform, Accelerate, Rehabilitate, and Trust the citizens of Caldwell County) aims to assist individuals struggling with opioid addiction by providing treatment, counseling, and recovery resources.

A major focus of the program is on reducing the number of fatal overdoses by allowing EMS workers to administer Narcan, a medication that reverses opiate overdoses, when they must aid someone experiencing a drug overdose.

"[RESTART] has been extremely beneficial," Cook said. "So far, they've given out 443 doses of Narcan. When you look at that, that's 443 potential lives that have been saved ... Susan Wilson and Jeanna Hamby, and along with Sierra White, she's our community medic, they're operating that program right now. They've actually started working really closely with the sheriff's office in the jail, making 23 referrals to rehab facilities once they get out. They've made 37 referrals to rehab facilities just from 911 overdose calls, and they've got 64 individuals they currently speak to all the time. Just with that, we want to expand the program."

Cook said they are hoping to develop three new positions for RESTART: a coordinator, a deputy coordinator who would also serve as a comprehensive support specialist to focus on statistics, overdose mapping, as well as distribute Narcan and offer peer support, and a liaison between the Health Department and the Department of Social Services (DSS).

"A couple of these positions could still be paid with the DOJ [Department of Justice] grant money that they're currently working on right now in the RESTART until June 2023 or the money runs out," said Cook.

Board Chairman Randy Church said these positions would be funded from opioid settlement money.

"Your deputy coordinator would also be the one tasked with the data?" Commissioner Donnie Potter asked.

"Yes," said Cook. "We learned that with speaking with other counties ... it's very important to keep statistics and to keep a mapping program. We're trying to task them with that responsibility."

Potter voiced concerns about attracting a suitable person for the peer support position.

"I know that the last time we had the peer support position, we had a little trouble getting people to apply," he said. "Is there a plan to reach out to try to find that person? For people who don't really understand, you're not in a peer support role, you want somebody who's opposite of what you normally would hire. You want somebody who's a recovering addict."

"I feel like with our talks, this is what's been beneficial, it's brought all these departments closer together, so we've communicated more," said Cook. "It gives somebody a good second chance."

Commissioner Mike LaBrose asked Cook how he felt with a team of seven people serving on the RESTART program. Cook said he felt confident.

"Seven is not going to be the end of it," said Potter. "I think that, from us as a commission board, the opioid money is going to help us, but that's not going to be the end-all."

After a motion was made, the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the budget amendment for emergency services to expand staffing positions for the RESTART program.

In other news, the Board of Commissioners voted in favor of the creation of two new Animal Care Enforcement positions.

Richard Gilliland, Animal Care Enforcement director, presented the request to the board.

As Gilliland explained, the current shelter (located at 829 Fairview Drive SW, Lenoir) is 6,000 square feet with 24 dog kennels (two of which are used to house feral cats) and 23 cat condos for friendly, adoptable cats. Right now, there are two full-time shelter attendants.

The new facility, which they hope to be relocated to in December, is 10,000 square feet with 46 dog kennels and roughly 45 cat condos.

Gilliland requested the addition of one shelter attendant and one animal intake coordinator. The shelter attendant would be responsible for cleaning dog and cat kennels; doing the laundry; washing dishes; cleaning the grounds of the facility; feeding any livestock at the facility; picking up donations; providing enrichment activities to animals; and assisting anywhere they may be needed. The animal intake coordinator would be responsible for the intake of all animals that come into the facility; provide medication to animals in the shelter; enter information into a software program; administer rabies vaccines to the public; transport animals to the vet; conduct heartworm testing and dog testing; coordinate kennel space; maintain equipment needed for intake; and clean cat and dog intake rooms.

"We don't have a cleaning crew, it's all hands on deck cleaning, anyways," he said. "But with double the amount of animals we're going to be housing, it's definitely going to be needed."

Both of these positions would alleviate Animal Care staff so they can focus on their assigned duties, Gilliliand said.

The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the two new positions for the Animal Care Enforcement Division.