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Drug Endangered Family Taskforce (DEFT)

Description

In 2017, the Richmond County Drug Endangered Family Task Force (DEFT) was formed to address the local opioid crisis that contributed to the neighborhood violence, joblessness, higher numbers of child abuse reports, and children living in poverty —spearheaded by the Richmond County Department of Social Services in collaboration with community stakeholders, county government, local health department, and other local partners to provide treatment resources and community education. Funds were obtained from CADCA (Community Advocacy Data Coalition Association), CINC (Community Impact North Carolina), and Sandhills Opioid Response Consortium. This partnership is still thriving today, with additional funds being gained from the NC Opioid Settlement Funds. 

Partners

  • Richmond County Department of Social Services DEFT | Richmond County, NC - Official Website (richmondnc.com)
    The Richmond County Drug Endangered Family Taskforce (DEFT) was formed to address the opioid crisis in our local neighborhoods. Community stakeholders, county government, and local agencies have joined forces to provide treatment resources and community education. We are committed to bringing awareness and prevention to Richmond County and its residents by working with local providers to reduce the supply of prescription opioids, increase community awareness and prevention, and supply naloxone to family, friends, and other interested parties who may work, live or know those who may use opioids.  
  • Richmond County Health Department Health Department | Richmond County, NC - Official Website (richmondnc.com)
    The mission of the Richmond County Health Department is to help prevent disease, promote health, and protect the environment for all citizens of Richmond County, and to assess and respond to the community's health needs continually.
  • Sandhills Opioid Response Consortium Substance Use Disorder | NC | FirstHealth of the Carolinas
    A FirstHealth community coalition committed to reducing opioid-related overdoses in Moore, Montgomery, Lee, Hoke, and Richmond counties. We work with our partners in each county to provide peer support, caregiver support, harm reduction kits, medicine for opioid use disorders, support groups, and syringe exchanges. We also support our partners in building community awareness by providing podcasts, virtual support, and community events like Drop Box locations. 
  • Richmond County Partnership for Children Richmond County Partnership for Children | Smart Start (smartstartrichmond.org) 
    Working with parents and caretakers of young children, Richmond County Partnership for Children (RCPC) helps support families. Our Circle of Parents group provides parents with a healthy, non-judgmental outlet to discuss parenting struggles. We share information with our parents about the effects of their choices on children. RCPC continually offers resources and referrals to other community agencies to support our families in all areas needed.
  • Richmond County Aging Services Aging Services | Richmond County, NC - Official Website (richmondnc.com)
    Richmond County Aging Services is an organization that provides a focal point for aging resources and opportunities to extend independent living and enrich the quality of life for Richmond County older adults. Older adults have a right to a voice in determining matters that impact them and access to sources of information and assistance for personal and family problems, including opportunities to learn from individuals coping with similar experiences. 
  • Hamlet City Police Police Department (hamletnc.us) 
    Our agency, through investigations both self-initiated and community-driven, locates and finds both those using opioids and illegally selling opioids. In addition, we reach out to those who have addictions and try to provide resources to aid in recovery. We believe that both aiding in recovery as well as stopping the illegal supply of opioids is the best way we, as officers, can help the community.
  • Rockingham City Police Rockingham Police Department Rockingham NC (gorockinghampd.com)
    The Mission of the Rockingham Police Department is to enforce the laws and ordinances of the State of North Carolina and the City of Rockingham. By providing quality law enforcement, we safeguard lives, enhance community safety, protect property, and reduce the impact and fear of crime. Our officers seek and preserve public confidence by the impartial observance of the law and by offering service and trust to all members of the public.
  • Richmond County School System Richmond County Schools 
    The school system teaches drug awareness and avoidance. Richmond County Schools celebrate Red Ribbon Week in the elementary grades each fall, which supports students being drug-free! Each school utilizes counselors and teaching staff to highlight NC curriculum standards and stand-alone activities to promote students being drug-free.
  • FirstHealth Emergency Medical Services Emergency Medical Services (EMS) (firsthealth.org)
    FirstHealth EMS is a nonprofit service that provides transports for 911 patients in Chatham, Montgomery, and Richmond counties. With 40 ambulances and 200 employees, the FirstHealth Regional EMS System is one of the largest ambulance systems in North Carolina, covering more than 3,000 square miles. Each county is unique but provides all our patients with a high level of Advanced Life Support (ALS) care. Together with our Medical Transport Team, FirstHealth EMS transports approximately 23,000 patients annually to various state destinations.
  • FirstHealth Outreach Department FirstHealth of the Carolinas: Non-Profit Health Care Provider Network
  • Sandhills Behavioral Center Sandhills Behavioral Center, Inc. - Outpatient Substance Abuse, Mental Illness Treatment Programs -North Carolina (sandhillsbc.com)
  • Sandhills Center Sandhills Center - Mental Health Services
    Sandhills Center, as an organization, manages a network of mental health and substance use providers under Medicaid and state funding, also managing both program funds for an 11-county region. We play a supportive role for community stakeholders in their efforts to address mental health and substance misuse issues in their communities.
  • Daymark Recovery Services Daymark Recovery Services - Richmond Center
  • Samaritan Colony Addiction Treatments in Rockingham, NC | Samaritan Colony
  • Alcohol and Drug Services of Richmond County Alcohol and Drug Services (ADS) | Addiction Treatment Greensboro and Asheboro | Prevention & Intervention Services (adsyes.org)
  • Guardian Ad Litem Guardian ad Litem | North Carolina Judicial Branch (nccourts.gov)
    The North Carolina Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program equips community volunteers to serve abused and neglected children by advocating for their best interests in court, including recommendations for substance use treatment for children and parents.  
  • Local Faith-Based Organizations
  • Richmond County Sherriff's Department Richmond County Sheriff, NC | Official Website
    Our mission is to improve the quality of life in our county by reducing fear, preventing crime, and enforcing the law while protecting each individual’s freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution.
  • Juvenile Crime Prevention Council NC DPS: Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils 
    The North Carolina Juvenile Justice section of the N.C. Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction, and Juvenile Justice focuses on at-risk youth and juvenile justice issues across the state. Its mission is to reduce and prevent juvenile delinquency by effectively intervening, educating, and treating youth to strengthen families and increase public safety by providing a seamless, comprehensive juvenile justice system that provides the most effective services to youth and their families at the right time, and in the most appropriate setting. 
  • Compassionate Counseling (910) 817-9927
  • Connections Family Support (877) 211-5995
    Connections Family Support Program hosts a monthly support group at First United Methodist Church in the Bynum Building located at 400 E. Washington St. in Rockingham from 12 Noon to 1:30 PM with lunch provided. Anyone who has children with behavioral, emotional, or learning challenges. Each month, different topics are discussed, and resources are provided.  
  • Moore County NC Addiction Recovery | Drug-Free Moore County Moore County NC Addiction Recovery | Drug-Free Moore County 
    Our non-profit organization provides information, education, and resources on prevention, treatment, and recovery to Moore County Citizens.
  • Community Impact North Carolina Community Impact North Carolina - Preventing harm of drugs & alcohol (impactcarolina.org)
    To help individuals and communities who find themselves facing the challenge of alcohol and other drug misuse, Community Impact NC is increasing our focus on building safe, healthy, and strong communities. We believe that strong communities are the best way to prevent future harm. We bring expert knowledge and research into the design and implementation of our programs.
  • North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition NC Harm Reduction Coalition - Dedicated to implementing harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation, and justice reform in North Carolina and throughout the American South. (nchrc.org)
    North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to implementing harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation, and justice reform in North Carolina and throughout the American South. NCHRC engages in grassroots advocacy, resource and policy development, coalition building, and direct services for people impacted by drug use, incarceration, sex work, overdose, gender, HIV and hepatitis, and first responders.

What We Do

In 2021, it was announced that $56 billion in national settlements with opioid companies from the litigation of the role of companies in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic. The settlement also required significant industry changes to help prevent this type of crisis from ever happening again. A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), or a legal document that establishes the terms and details of a partnership between two or more parties, was developed between the State and local governments and directs how opioid settlement funds are distributed and used in our state. To maximize funding to local communities on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, the MOA allocates 85 percent of settlement funds to North Carolina’s 100 counties and 17 municipalities with only 15 percent to the State. For more information regarding State spending on opioid settlement funds, please visit https://ncopioidsettlement.org/.

In 2023, DEFT received a significant portion of the NC Opioid Settlement Funds. DEFT is using these funds to assemble a Naloxone bank for emergency medical systems, law enforcement agencies, and other local agencies to replenish their supplies. Another usage of settlement funds is to issue grants to local agencies to help with substance use prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. The agencies selected this year were the  Samaritan Colony and FirstHealth of the Carolinas. Samaritan Colony will use the grant funds to support fifteen (15) Richmond County people needing treatment and rehabilitation at their comprehensive center, and FirstHealth of the Carolinas will provide a peer support specialist to Richmond County Social Services. We hope that these programs make a measurable difference in our neighborhoods.  

As a collaboration of many local, regional, and state agencies, DEFT promotes Lock Your Meds (LYM) through sponsored events and social and local media advertisements. The focus of DEFT is to reduce the oversupply of prescription opioids, increase community awareness and prevention, increase Naloxone distribution, measure our impact, and revise strategies based on results.

Who We Serve

The service area is the geographical boundary of Richmond County, North Carolina. Richmond County is located in the southwestern corner of the North Carolina Inner Coastal Plains, considered the Sandhills Region. Richmond County's current estimated population is 42,724 (2022) and comprises a White population at 56% and a Black population of 30%. The remaining 14% of the population is American Indian, Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races. Gender averages to be an equal distribution of males to females. 45.6% of Richmond County's population is below the 200% Federal Poverty Level, with the most significant demographic living in poverty being Black females (19%) and White females (16%). Unemployment rates have dropped by 1.1% to near pre-COVID levels. The highest rates of unemployment by population are Native American (29.3%), Two or More Races (16.5%), and Blacks (13). 

How We Impact

DEFT impacts the community by providing resources, education, treatment, and prevention to the people at the highest risk. Using all methods at our disposal, DEFT helps support the systems in place, identify goals, and implement strategies and community plans to provide the best harm reduction possible. 

Overdose kits include Naloxone nasal spray, information on the signs and symptoms of opioid overdose, how to connect with a certified peer support specialist, as well as other resources are distributed by the peer support specialists, Division of Social Services social workers, law enforcement agencies, and Emergency Medical Services to those who may have had an overdose or suspected overdose or to families that may be concerned about a loved one with a substance use disorder.  

 

Measures

Time
Period
Current Actual Value
Current Target Value
Current
Trend
Baseline
% Change
PM
Jan 2023
20
1
82%

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Scorecard Container Measure Action Actual Value Target Value Tag S A m/d/yy m/d/yyyy