Agenda 05-06-25; 6-a - Opioid Advisory Committee Settlement Fund Use Recommendations

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115 by the war on drugs including books such as Saving Our Own Lives by Shira Hassan and Drug Use for Grown-Ups by Carl L. Hart, and podcasts like Crackdown. We have compiled a running list of these educational resources that we provide to volunteers seeking to learn more. Moving forward, we plan to incorporate more direct voices from participants and people directly impacted by drug use through formal surveys, informal feedback discussions, and structured meetings with our CAB. All assistance provided will be voluntary and monetarily compensated. SHAC SSP serves a diverse population with a wide range of lived experiences and identities with a high degree of overlap with the prioritized groups for this funding source including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and those experiencing housing instability. Our program does not currently track participant demographic information, but IFC serves a population that is approximately 70% BIPOC, so our population at our weekly shift at IFC roughly reflects these demographics. We recognize the importance of collecting more comprehensive demographic information for improving our services and addressing health disparities, so moving forward, will enhance our data collection efforts to incorporate this data to better understand and meet the needs of the communities we serve. We will collaborate with our CAB to ensure that this information is collected in a manner that is sensitive, respectful, and prioritizes participant dignity over all else. Through our partnership with IFC, we provide critical support to individuals who use drugs who are also experiencing homelessness and housing instability. IFC provides emergency financial assistance for rent and utilities and provided over$110,000 in emergency assistance in 2022-2023. They supported 387 households with rent payments in 2023-2024. IFC also runs 24- hour shelters for individuals experiencing homelessness as well as a temporary cold weather shelter in the winter. Finally, IFC offers permanent supportive housing for community members with complex barriers that prevent them from being able to obtain and keep other housing. Our location within IFC enables us to offer harm reduction services to people reporting to IFC for housing assistance and to connect people seeking safe injection supplies directly to housing resources if needed. In this way, our collaboration with IFC expands our reach and generates a more integrated support network for vulnerable Orange County residents. We also serve people experiencing homelessness who do not use drugs but seek our services for first aid supplies, naloxone, and other materials. In addition to safe injection and overdose reversal supplies, we offer resources requested by the communities we serve, including items that help address some of the challenges of homelessness, such as bug spray, hand warmers, and hygiene products. Finally, we are also working to collaborate more closely with Orange County's Post Overdose Response Team (PORT). Their team can provide MOUD and gap coverage for individuals who are between providers or are having difficulty accessing their medication and can direct people to our resources for safer use and overdose response if interested. They also have a partnership with the Lantern Project working with individuals involved in the criminal legal system, which is crucial for managing overdose in the vulnerable post-release period and helping these individuals with reintegration. Though our program does not specifically focus on those transitioning from correctional settings, our broader network through collaborators like PORT can assist us in reaching these individuals with essential harm reduction supplies.