Family Guidance Centers outreach van hits suburban Chicago streets to offer opioid reversal drug, resources

CHICAGO -- A few days ago, Posen, Illinois, police Chief William Alexander said he stopped to offer help to a homeless man under the Interstate 57 bridge.

The homeless man told Alexander he already talked with someone in the Family Guidance Centers mobile outreach services van, and someone from the van gave him naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, and other resources.

“That was before I ever heard of this program,” Alexander said. “I think it’s a great thing.”

Cook County and municipal officials gathered Thursday in Dixmoor to reveal a new Family Guidance Centers mobile outreach services van that will help 20 south suburban towns, including Dixmoor and Harvey, said Family Guidance Centers Chief Operating Officer Ronald Vlasaty.

The van will have naloxone, fentanyl testing strips, first aid kits, women hygiene products and condoms, all known as harm reduction supplies, Vlasaty said. Two outreach workers will staff the van, along with a driver who will also be a security guard, and provide residents with resources for treatment and other programs, he said.

The van was out in the area four days last week, Vlasaty said, and interacted with more than 100 residents.

Vlasaty said he will work with south suburban officials to learn what “hot spots” in their villages would be a good place for the van to park and support the community.

Once there, the workers will hand out the kits to those who need it, he said, as well as teach people how to administer naloxone, a nasal spray, and how to use the fentanyl test strips. Vlasaty said residents will be taught to place their substance on the strip and it will indicate if it is positive for fentanyl.

Vlasaty said outreach workers will instruct residents to use the one-pump nasal spray on someone who has overdosed, or someone who is unresponsive and just took an opioid, he said. Anyone administering naloxone is still instructed to call 911, he said.

“It’s available to anybody who requests it. We provide information on how and when to use it. It may not be the person who needs it, but they may know somebody,” Vlasaty said.

When asked if he’s concerned the availability of naloxone, or Narcan, will encourage opioid use, Vlasaty said passing out naloxone is a harm reduction strategy.

“The strategy is to reduce deaths associated with at-risk behaviors. The use of Narcan will reduce overdose deaths,” Vlasaty said.

Family Guidance Centers, a not-for-profit behavioral health care organization, will support police officers to help them determine if some arrestees would benefit from receiving treatment.

“It’s all about awareness. It’s so that the community knows there are services available,” Vlasaty said.

The van was funded by a $1.3 million Cook County Department of Public Health grant, through American Rescue Plan Act funding, Vlasaty said, and will fund the van for four years.

In that time period, the van’s goal is to reach 20,000 people to hand out harm reduction supply kits and provide them with resources, Vlasaty said. The outreach workers will provide people with information on the impact of drug use and offer programs to help them quit, he said.

“To me, that’s 20,000 saved lives,” Vlasaty said.

According to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, opioid overdose deaths have been on the rise from 647 opioid overdose deaths reported in 2015 to more than 2,000 opioid overdose deaths reported in 2022.

Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon said the south suburbs have been affected by the “devastating” opioid crisis, so the van handing out naloxone offers a “shining beacon of hope” to help residents.

“Lives can be spared and futures can be restored,” Gordon said.

Dixmoor Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said he looks forward to seeing the van in the village.

“We need this here in Dixmoor and the south suburbs,” Roberts said. “We all know someone who may need this one day.”

Posen Mayor Frank Podbielniak said he looks forward to officers receiving the fentanyl testing strips because it will help them keep the community safe.

“I think it’s fantastic to have that in the south suburbs,” Podbielniak said. “We’re not blind to it. If we can save a life or two, let’s do it.”

Alexander said Posen has seen an increase in heroin and fentanyl overdoses in the last two years. While Posen officers have naloxone in their vehicles, the van will be another resource.

“Getting ahead of the problem” by providing treatment resources and teaching residents how to use naloxone would be great, Alexander said.

“We have limited resources,” Alexander said. “Here, we have someone to reach out to.”