Blair County commissioners to allocate opioid funding

Six proposals will receive total of $375,000

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County commissioners voted Thursday to accept six recommendations from an advisory board that will allocate money from the National Opioid Settlement toward county prison programs, training of law enforcement officers and treatment.

Commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster asked no questions and engaged in no discussions before voting on the six recommendations recommended by an advisory committee that reviewed 15 applications.

The expenditures added up to almost $375,000 for the six approved proposals which allocates the following:

– $95,517 to Blair County Drug and Alcohol Partnership for treatment and support of Blair County Prison Opioid Use Disorder Services.

– $8,934 to Blair County Drug and Alcohol Partnership for treatment and support of the Blair County In-Prison Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Group.

– $95,541 to Blair County Drug and Alcohol Partnership for support of the Blair County Prison Re-entry Women's Services.

– $40,000 to UPMC-Western Behavioral Health of the Alleghenies for a 12-week Contingency Management Program for those diagnosed with a stimulant use disorder and receiving medication to address the disorder.

– $92,300 for Zschool LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for online educational training of 142 Blair County law enforcement officers that focuses on their ability to be fully prepared to respond to opioid-related emergencies. The program, which yields university certification upon completion, lists $63,900 as the cost of training and $28,400 as the cost of overtime to cover police department overtime.

– $42,108 to Blair County Drug and Alcohol Partnership, for support of its Single County Authority/Opioid Use Disorder Treatment program.

Blair County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Joe Cox, a member of the advisory committee that reviewed the applications, said after the commissioners meeting that he thought Kessling and Webster accepted all of the recommendations that the committee forwarded.

The committee didn't forward recommendations from applicants who failed to comply with what's referred to Exhibit E, a document outlining criteria and rules for spending opioid settlement funds. But those applicants, Cox said, are supposed to have a chance to update or revise their applications and submit again at a time to be designated.

The county, at the end of 2024, received opioid settlement funds adding up to $1.72 million, representing a Wave I fourth payment and a Wave II first payment.

Prior to that receipt, commissioners relied on the committee's recommendations to designate more than a half million dollars in opioid settlement funds that were due to be distributed before 2024 concluded. In that action, commissioners designated $524,560 for contingency management services provided by Blair Health Choices of Hollidaysburg, $8,000 for services provided by Blair Drug and Alcohol Partnership's Community Reinforcement and Family Training and $5,000 to reimburse the county's Social Services department for expenses incurred in the 2024 to provide a networking day for about 100 people involved in the Student Assistance Program.

In addition to Cox, other members of the county's opioid advisory committee are Tricia Johnson, director of the county's social services department who chairs the committee; Drew Yingling, chairman of the Altoona Area School District counseling program; Amy Martin-Shanafelt, executive director of Blair Health Choices; Colleen Heim, former director Healthy Blair County Coalition; and Judy Rosser, director of Blair County Drug and Alcohol Partnerships.

The committee's meetings have not been advertised or opened to the public.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.