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Chautauqua CARES Teams Up On Abuse

Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone

Sheriff Jim Quattrone and a coalition of Chautauqua County organizations and entities are banding together to fight substance abuse disorder in the county.

Through Chautauqua CARES, the sheriff and his colleagues plan on using new approaches to combatting addiction response which include education, prevention and treatment, alongside enforcement.

“We’ve recognized that this war on drugs has been going on for over 50 years, as we’re not winning the war,” Quattrone said. “We have to be smarter about doing about the drug crisis. What we’re working on is a countywide, multi-sector network of enforcement working with behavioral health and other community agencies to collaborate so we can increase accessibility, timeliness and effectiveness of help for people with a substance use disorder and their families. We’re collaborating with as many agencies in the county as possible from different sectors to focus not just on enforcement but also education, prevention, treatment and enforcement.”

Some of the agencies that are partnered through Chautauqua CARES include the Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene Department, Chautauqua County Health and Human Services department, Prevention Works, UPMC Chautauqua, the Chautauqua Mental Health Association, many local law enforcement agencies in the area and many other organizations in the area.

“While we’re looking a comprehensive response to opioids and other drug crises in the county, we’re really also to see more diversion programs for nonviolent drug offenders, both pre-arrest and post-arrest, where we can not only get them the treatment and out of jail, but get it to them in a timely manner. What we will do is if a law enforcement officer comes in contact, whether it is initiated by an individual or initiated by law enforcement, if a nonviolent drug offender is ready for help or we recognize they could use the help, we’re going to connect them with a peer immediately — it doesn’t matter the time of day or night — so we can get them help when they’re ready for help.”

Quattrone said in the past, those who suffered from substance abuse disorder may have realized that they are ready to receive help, but those services are not immediately available.

“They may end up going back to the drugs,” he said. “We’re looking for that timely diversion. Part of the Chautauqua CARES program is to have a more effective reentry program upon release from jail, and then we are working hard to ramp up the treatment program within the jail. My belief is that we can’t just focus on enforcement — I think we have to have education, prevention, treatment and enforcement.”

Quattrone said he is also excited about the possibility of using Prevention Works’ mobile unit to attend events such as fairs or educational visits to schools to reach out to students and the community regarding the dangers of drug use as part of the education portion of the network. He said some areas across the country are using methods similar to those that Chautauqua CARES is looking to use which have been quite effective, such as these educational approaches.

“The reports have shown again — people are going to get sick of me saying it — but it’s the collaboration we need, not just amongst law enforcement,” he said. “We need to be able to collaborate with our community providers if we are going to get any progress on the drug crisis.”

Quattrone said the drug issues in Chautauqua County are pressing. In 2017, he said fentanyl was involved in 54 percent of all overdose deaths, however, in 2020, fentanyl was involved in 88 percent of all overdose deaths.

“Over that same time frame, the frequency of heroin present in those toxicology reports has actually decreased,” he said. “What it is showing is that fentanyl is being put in more drugs. We’re seeing more stimulant use was tied to the overdoses, but with that, there’s also fentanyl.”

Quattrone added that marijuana has also been found to be laced with fentanyl at times.

Currently, Chautauqua CARES is awaiting an answer on a Bureau of Justice Grant called the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program grant. Quattrone said the funding the county just received during Attorney General Letitia James’ recent visit would also be helpful for the coalition.

“It can be a life-saving program,” he said. “Just when you think of the costs involved – and when I say costs, that’s not just fiscal, but the emotional costs and the mental costs for families and individuals, and also how much we can be preventing – that’s our goal, to prevent it. That’s where we want to approve our diversion program and do a better job at diverting people. If we can keep them out of jail, and keep them out of the emergency room, they can go to the proper places for treatment – that’s where we’re going to benefit.”

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