Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware overdose deaths ranked fourth in the nation on a per-capita basis in 2022. For the first time in a decade, overdose deaths dropped in the First State, but advocates say more funding could be granted to Kent and Sussex counties.
In a two-story brick building next to Georgetown’s Grace United Methodist Church, a small team is working to reimagine prison re-entry.
The Way Home Inc. offers formerly incarcerated individuals a new direction following their release from prison. The nonprofit specializes in reaching former inmates right after their release and meeting them with any housing, medical or employment needs.
It’s one of the many organizations in Delaware that received a grant from the Opioid Abatement and Remediation Grant Program, which disbursed more than $12 million last year to organizations across the state.
Nationwide, settlements from pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors have totaled more than $50 billion related to their contributions to the deadly opioid epidemic. Of those major settlements, Delaware received close to $250 million to be spent over the next 17 years.
What’s been funded so far?
Delaware’s General Assembly passed a bill in 2021 outlining the ways in which the settlement funds could be spent.
As part of the bill, the one major pot of funding was split into two separate strings, said Susan Holloway, the executive director of Delaware’s Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission, which oversees the money.
The first pot is the “Settlement Fund,” which holds all of the money distributed to the state and is used to remediate the effects of the opioid crisis. The second “Impact Fund” is dedicated to prevention and subsidizing treatment options in Delaware.
Right now, the two pots of money hold a combined total of nearly $35 million. In late 2022 and mid-2023, the commission opened two phases of grant opportunities to organizations in all three counties.
In its first round of grants, the commission gave $3.58 million to 41 different organizations seeking grants of $100,000 or less. The second round saw $8.8 million distributed to 37 organizations, with the $100,000 limit no longer in effect.
According to Holloway, a new round of grants has $15 million to distribute and is set to open in mid-July. Organizations can apply on the commission’s website once the opportunity is available.
Holloway said the model for allocating funding is based on guidance from a set of principles put together by John Hopkins University, as well as a section of the settlement agreement.
But Holloway also said during grant selection there’s an emphasis on allocating funds toward statewide organizations.
In its most recent round of funding, organizations based in New Castle County received $3.18 million in accepted grants. Kent and Sussex County-based organizations saw a combined total of $1.63 million in grants.
Three organizations pulled in a combined total of $500,000 to do work in both Kent and New Castle counties.
Statewide efforts were granted $3.35 million, according to the grant recipients sheet. The recipient sheet showed three organizations did not accept grants, leaving $650,000 unclaimed.
How does Delaware rank in overdose deaths?
Delaware ranked fourth in the nation when it came to per-capita overdose deaths in 2022, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
The First State saw 527 overdose deaths in 2023, according to a report from the Delaware Division of Forensic Science – a small decrease from 2022’s 537 deaths. Overdose deaths dropped in both Sussex and New Castle counties, but Kent recorded a 33% increase.
Based on population data from 2022, Kent County saw the greatest percentage of its population affected by overdose deaths in 2023. In Kent and Sussex, there were 208 combined deaths, as opposed to New Castle County’s 319. While New Castle County is the most populous in the state, Holloway said the impact is being felt equally across the state.
Peggy Geisler, the executive director of the Sussex County Health Coalition, has received settlement funds to distribute naloxone in her county. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JACOB OWENS
Peggy Geisler, the executive director of the Sussex County Health Coalition, has used the $300,000 her organization received to address addiction in county households.
In her eyes, addiction in Delaware is not just about opioid pills anymore. Deadly drugs like Fentanyl and xylazine – also known as “tranq” – are emerging all over the country. There are also other more well-known drugs like alcohol and cocaine still having an impact on communities.
And according to Geisler, many people who are dying from overdoses have multiple substances in their systems.
Part of fighting addiction in Delaware means breaking the stigma around how people think about it. Geisler said there may be people employed all over Delaware who are currently in recovery or in an active addiction, and people need to be more understanding.
“People believe it’s a personality issue, ‘like I can just stop right like, just don’t use, it’s that simple right?’” Geisler said. “This is a chemical disorder, and addiction is not that simple.”
A greater need down south
For organizations like The Way Home, the $181,240 it received has gone to distributing naloxone, a drug used to reverse an opiate overdose also known by its brand-name Narcan, along with training of its administration. It has also created treatment plans for recently released inmates, according to Executive Director Paulette Rappa.
“We are the only ones that provide re-entry in Sussex County from soup to nuts,” Rappa said.
The money the Way Home got in its grant is having an impact in the community, according to Rappa. She said by offering opportunities and framework for people coming out of prison, the whole community benefits.
But she believes more attention could be paid to Sussex County. There’s an added layer of anxiety that leads some to addiction in Sussex County, according to Rappa.
Ennio Emmanuel, director of Code Purple Kent County, said that more of the settlement resources are needed in Kent and Sussex counties. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY NICK STONESIFER
The cost of living
The price of housing and land is inaccessible for many and leads people to be stuck in transitional housing since they may be unable to afford a security deposit on an apartment near their job.
Rappa said she’s glad the state went after the money, but what’s been distributed so far is “the tip of the iceberg.” She said she’d like to see more of the funding dedicated to addressing the underlying issues that contribute to that sense of anxiety.
“I think we have to seriously look at affordable housing, not just talk the talk, but start developing,” Rappa said.
Ennio Emmanuel, a director of Code Purple Kent County, said middle Delaware experiences the same pinch. Code Purple Kent County received $500,000 to open a new day center in Dover that offers services from case management to group therapy.
The nonprofit operates that day center, as well as a mobile center that visits the streets and different encampments to distribute clean needles, Narcan and other basic necessities.
I started to see that people in Dover were living like people were in third-world countries.
ennio emmanuel, code purple kent county
To receive a Settlement Fund grant, organizations are required to send reports back to the commission to track harm reduction, prevention and treatment efforts in their organizations. That ranges from tracking the amount of Narcan kits distributed to how many people an organization’s connected with employers.
Emmanuel said that he’d like to see more applicants from Kent County and more nighttime informational sessions to accommodate people working jobs during the day.
“It would open up doors to a population of people who have not been able to go to some of the meetings,” Emmanuel said.
Delaware’s Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health recently announced grant writing workshops at multiple different sites in all three counties. The workshops run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Emmanuel has lived in Delaware since he was 5 years old and got involved with community work at a young age. Some of the early work he did was abroad on mission trips starting at 12 years old.
So when he joined Code Purple, he started doing work to address the needs of people living in Delaware. But a stark reality hit as he helped guide people to shelters or provide resources to those in need.
“I started to see that people in Dover were living like people were in third-world countries,” Emmanuel said.
Geisler concurred that more money could be sent to Sussex County. Progress made in the southernmost county could be attributed to their need to collaborate more, since they don’t have as many resources.
For headway to be made in the fight against addiction in Delaware, Geisler said she’d like to see a “more equitable formula” to address the needs of middle and southern Delaware.
She said the process is not perfect right now because the problems it addresses are complex. But she said collaboration thus far has allowed organizations to be more thoughtful about how money is being spent in the community.
“Why we think that complex problems can be fixed with simple solutions is beyond me,” Geisler said. “The complexity of the solutions must also sometimes meet the complexity of the problem.”
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