Both Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan and Chautauqua County Community Mental Hygiene Services Director Patricia Brinkman coordinated Monday’s Community Forum, which will focus on the continuing prevention efforts to combat Opiate use in Chautauqua. The event is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Chautauqua Suites Hotel and Expo Center and is open to the public.

The Forum will feature experts who will discuss current treatment practices, impacts of drug abuse, and community involvement in organizing efforts to combat addiction.

Anticipated speakers include:

• Michael Fox, Research Associate from the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education;
• Allison Sharer, Director of Prevention Programs with Drug Free Action Alliance; and
• Dr. Robert Meyers – emeritus research associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addiction.

Several Key stakeholders from the community are also involved with the event, including the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County. CEO Rick Huber was a guest on WRFA’s most recent episode of Community Matters program and talked about how the drug abuse situation – especially the use of heroin – has reached an all-time high in the area. Huber said according to the recent 2014 county health study, the number of babies being born with an addiction is 2.5 times greater than the state average.

• RELATED: Rick Huber Discusses Drug Addiction in Chautauqua County

In addition to the speakers, the forum will also focus on updating the community and what’s been done to address the drug addiction and abuse problem since the previous forum one year ago.

The forum is expected to last until noon.

During Monday night’s Jamestown City Council Work Session, Rick Huber of the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County spent more than half an hour talking with city officials, providing information on his program and explaining why it’s needed in the ongoing fight in the local war on drugs.

Huber said drug addiction – especially for heroin – is a growing and continuous problem throughout Chautauqua County. He said he’s currently working with the county in trying to reduce the number of addicts who are arrested and put in jail.

“The first part of the program that we recommended that they do is a jail diversion program for people with mental health issues and addictions,” Huber said. “Not your deals. The chief and I have talked about that. They are where they belong and need to stay there. But the addicts are who we need to get.”

Currently, the Mental Health Association is working on developing a self-sustaining jail diversion program where addicts will have an alternatives to being sent to jail.

They would come into a program where they would spend six days a week, eight hours a day in classes and groups,” Huber said. “They would  be going to their therapists, they would see their medical doctors and they would receive programming to reduce the addiction that they have.”

He added that currently, the jail diversion program has a success rate of more than 70 percent, although it is only working on a limited basis.

The initial cost of expanding the jail diversion program so that it can fully address the current needs in the community would be $250,000 to $300,000. But Huber emphasized that once it’s up and running the program would be self-sustaining. He also said that his program is not seeking funding from the city, but instead is just looking for support. He’s hoping that local and regional foundations along with funding from Albany will provide financial support to help seed the project.

Huber said the Mental Health Association is also looking into opening up a long-term rehab facility for Chautauqua County. It would be a self-funded, long-term detox facility for recovering addicts who live in the community. The initial cost would be $1.5 million to primarily help pay for a work component, which would provide jobs for those enrolled in the program as well as a stream of revenue to help pay for the cost of running it.

City officials said they would like to offer support. Council president Greg Rabb instructed Huber to seek an endorsement for his proposed projects from the Strategic Planning Commission’s Health Task Force and to also provide city officials with an outline containing more details of each program so they can return with any questions they may have.

Despite blizzard like conditions, the initial Community Drug Forum in Mayville had over 200 people in attendance. Horrigan says that turnout was a great start, but the suggestion was made that subsequent forums be held at the two ends of the county to reach those who couldn’t make the first.

According to a media release, the forums will focus on the same issues and topics featured in the initial Community Drug Forum. They will be held on August 4, 2014 from 9 a.m. to noon at Jamestown Community College in Jamestown, and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at JCC’s north county facility in Dunkirk.

For more information concerning the Community Forum, contact the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene by calling (716) 753-4104.

ABOUT: Community Matters is a half-hour public affairs program airing every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. and Sunday at Noon on WRFA-LP 107.9 FM in Jamestown, N.Y.