By Craig Anderson

WILMINGTON - As a way to directly connect community members struggling with opioid use disorder and other behavioral health issues to treatment, recovery and prevention services, the Community Well-Being Initiative, will be expanded to serve targeted neighborhoods in Kent County.

The initiative will be conducted in collaboration with Delaware State University, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Molly Magarik announced on Monday at a press conference at the Chase Center in Wilmington.

“This is about meeting communities where they are and offering on-the-ground support to neighborhood residents who have been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic in our state,” Ms. Magarik said.

“It is important that we are expanding the Community Well-Being Initiative to Kent County to help address the trauma and toxic stress that community members there experience as well. From the success of the New Castle County pilot, we have seen how important it is for Community Well-being Ambassadors to have lived experience and to reside in the areas they serve.”

The initiative began in 2021 by identifying four ZIP codes in New Castle County – 19801, 19802 and 19805 in Wilmington and 19720 in New Castle – with high rates of fatal and non-fatal overdoses, and high rates of drug arrests. The initiative is funded through the Delaware State Opioid Response (SOR) grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In the pilot, 24 Community Well-being Ambassadors, who were hired by the nonprofit Network Connect and embedded in the neighborhoods, worked to identify and engage with individuals and families who typically do not seek formal treatment and recovery services for opioid and other substance use disorders.
The expansion to Kent County will involve Delaware State University as the managing partner of the initiative, along with DSAMH and UD’s Partnership for Healthy Communities.

Additional Kent County partners, include Network Connect, Minds in Motion Integrated Behavioral Health, the Center for Structural Equity/Community Intervention Team, GBA Consulting, and the host sites:

• Delaware Multi-Cultural Civic Organization

• DSU Biomedical, Behavioral and Allied Health Center

• DSU-Downtown

• Two additional sites (pending)

“Delaware State University is elated to be a managing partner for such a phenomenal initiative,” aid Dr. Gwendolyn Scott-Jones, Dean of DSU’s Wesley College of Health and Behavioral Sciences ”The Community Well-being Initiative aligns with our university’s core values and mission,” said Dr. Gwendolyn Scott-Jones, Dean of DSU’s Wesley College of Health and Behavioral Sciences.

“This behavioral health integration and 21st-century case management model of service delivery executed by Network Connect is a monumental approach to addressing health disparities, psychological crises, substance-related disorders, mental health disorders and identifying social determinants that can help us better understand and improve health inequities. “

The expansion in Kent County will involve ZIP codes – 19901, 19902, 19904 and 19934 – that have high rates of fatal and non-fatal overdoses and high rates of drug arrests. The initiative, which began with Network Connect hiring staff in August 2022, will launch this fall in the communities and be staffed by 16 Community Well-being Ambassadors and two CWA Program Coordinators.

Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long, Chair of the Behavioral Health Consortium, said the Community Well-being Initiative and the Ambassador program are helping to facilitate two of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s goals under the State Opioid Response grants: to expand opioid use disorder/stimulant use disorder treatment engagement strategies and reduce barriers to accessing treatment, as well as to create a greater strategic focus on racial and ethnic populations in SAMHSA’s investments.

“As we saw in the targeted outreach in New Castle County and now in the expansion into Kent County, the Community Well-being Initiative is about promoting equity,” she said.

“In order to encourage more community residents to seek treatment for substance use disorder, we need to have Community Well-being Ambassadors who live in the communities, collaborating with trusted community partners and building trust with the people they serve. This is another important way that we are building a stronger and healthier Delaware for more of our residents.”

In 2021, Delaware reported 515 overdose deaths, an increase of more than 15% over 2020, according to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science. In Kent County, overdose deaths increased 74% from 50 in 2020 to 87 in 2021. DFS also reported that 425 of the 515 deaths involved fentanyl, a synthetic pain reliever that is 50-100 times more potent than morphine.