Substance Abuse Response Fund

Partnering With Municipalities And Huntington County Health Department

Huntington County, the City of Huntington, and the Town of Warren have cooperatively established a community Substance Abuse Response Fund in partnership with the Huntington County Health Department and managed by the Community Foundation of Huntington County.

This collaborative fund’s goal is to identify the strengths in local substance abuse recovery services and the gaps that need to be filled.

This is an exciting opportunity for us to make some strong headway into substance abuse in our community. We know that a collaborative approach to substance abuse is going to be the most strategic way to make a change.

Dr. Matt Pflieger — Huntington County Public Health Officer

Operating The Substance Abuse Response Fund

A five-person oversight board will determine how funds will be spent and distributed to bolster the community’s response to substance abuse issues and monitor results.

This oversight board includes a public health officer, a City of Huntington appointee, a Huntington County appointee, a law enforcement representative, and an individual in substance abuse recovery.

The Substance Abuse Crisis In Indiana

According to the website of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, there were more than 112 prescriptions written for every 100 Indiana residents when opioid prescribing reached its statewide peak in 2012.

Fifty-eight of Indiana’s 92 counties had an opioid prescribing rate greater than 100 prescriptions per 100 residents from 2012 through 2016.

Huntington County’s opioid prescribing rate similarly peaked in 2012 at 107.4 prescriptions per 100 residents. The rate fell to 78.7 in 2016 and 15.35 by 2020, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Across the state, drug overdose deaths have continued to climb even as the opioid prescribing rate was curtailed. Indiana’s overdose death rate has risen from 3.2 deaths per 100,000 residents in 1999 to 18.2 in 2014 and 36.7 in 2020.

“This collaboration is an important step in addressing substance abuse in our communities. Together we can make a difference in the lives of our families, neighbors, and friends.”

Matt Ditzler — Executive Director of Community Foundation of Huntington County

Huntington County residents who want to be a part of the substance abuse crisis solution can make a donation to the Substance Abuse Response Fund using our online form.

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