City county task force on opiates that was done across the u. S. We had 20 elected officials at the city and county levels, intensity officials intent county officials. The mayor of little rock, arkansas, it was a cochair on the city side and i was a cochair on the county side. Youll be hearing from one of those Panel Members today when greg speaks. But our work that was done, seems like ages ago. Well be talking about that. I want to thank those of you here in person as well as those f you that are here virtually. We know this is being broadcast live stream and a special thank you to a. R. C. For your partnership. What we do in county government is all about partnerships. We partner with each other. We partner with various agencies especially great partners like aoc, we are thankful for that. This event is the culmination of a year Long Partnership to strengthen the local response on the opiate epidemic across the 13state region. A. R. C. Is a unique federal, state and local partnership and where they, go we make it are privileged to work alongside with them. The Appalachian Region as one of the hardest hit regions in the country. County leaders in the region need to help and support of partnerships like the ones that a. R. C. Has provided and the the resources that are needed to serve our citizens. Today, we are focusing on the Opioid Crisis but we know that the issue reaches beyond that, to Substance Abuse in a broader scale. Many local leaders from all sectors are working together to address Substance Abuse and we see the impact that Substance Abuse is having on counties across the entire region. Counties deal with these pressing issues every day on the front lines. Think about some of these numbers. County supports over 900 hospitals, county owned, county supported hospitals. They oversee sheriffs department, other local Law Enforcement, emts, firefighters, other first responders. Investing over 100 billion in justice in Public Safety services each year. I want to repeat that. 100 billion in Public Safety services each year. Counties provide Child Protective Services in foster care and they need to deal with increases in case loads when parents are impacted by Substance Abuse. Counties are also heavily involved in the criminal Justice System, supporting 91 of all local jails. 91 of all local jails. And investing over 20 billion in the courts and Legal Services annually. We cannot forget the way that Behavioural Health and Mental Health are aggravating this Substance Abuse crisis and the resources counties are investing to help residents in this area. Unfortunately as well, county oroner and medical examiners end up being the one who is need to process the dead bodies and in some cases, like us in kentucky, counties are providing the funding for those indigent burials. Indigent burials is a line item in my county budget. Nikole and a. R. C. Are therefore focusing on solutions. So many times this work is done, and you later learned the outcomes. The outcomes from this work is really focusing on solutions, and im excited to see that. We see the impact of Substance Abuse on counties in the residence and we are focused on making a positive change with this work. We are very proud of what weve been able to accomplish through this partnership. Together, we have produced a robust outing document with findings, recommendations and case studies for operation county officials. We partnered with a 13 appalachia state associations of the county to bring direct resources to the county leaders in the states through 10 educational sessions. We also gathered feedback from attendees and foster discussion through the polling on many of these sessions. This event today brings together all of these efforts. We are proud to showcase what we have learned and to look forward to the future of appalachia together. So, we have two great Panel Discussions that are going to take place here today. Our first panel will focus on key solutions. Key solutions that county leaders have been implementing across appalachia to address the opioid misuse and what types of solution i have been working the best. Following that discussion, our second panel will look to the future and focus on how we can help appalachian communities move beyond the Opioid Epidemic, looking long term, focusing on solutions to revitalize appalachia. Well have time for questions for all four of the panelists after the second panel finishes. After the questions and after the panels, were excited to have u. S. Senator Shelly Moore Capito to join us at the 4 30 session to comment on the Opioid Epidemic in West Virginia and the key role for leaders to play on this work. So right on cue, im going to introduce a special guest we have with us today. Tim thomas. Tim serves as the federal cochair of a. R. C. He works directly with a. R. C. s 13member governor, their alternates and Program Managers with a network of local development districts. Together they help create Economic Development opportunities and address Opioid Crisis across appalachia. Tim has more than 20 years of experience in the Public Infrastructure work force, training and regulatory issues. He most recently served with u. S. Senator Mitch Mcconnells staff from 2015 to 2018 where he fostered partnerships with tate and local officials, communitiers and constituent groups to support economic and Community Development initiatives. Tim has a bachelor of science degree from Murray State University and a law degree from the university of louisville. Oin me in welcoming the co chair of a. R. C. Tim thomas. [applause] thank you for that kind introduction and the good work youre doing back in northern kentucky. We have known each other for a number of years. Welcome to all of you to this capstone event that marks a year of collaborative effort between the Appalachian Regional commission and the National Association of counties. Im glad to be here with the director of an organization that helps to broaden understanding of common issues among its members and in his leadership capacity. This latter part of developing local leadership is an overlap in the mission of our organizations. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with you. Thank you so much. I also want to thank any Congressional Staff and thanks to senator Shelly Moore Capito who you will hear from at the conclusion of our event. Congress has made contributions toward finding and Funding Solutions for the opioid problem. I also want to thank my colleague, a. R. C. North carolina alternate. Mr. Jim mcclesky over here who represents roy cooper. We will have some excellent discussions this afternoon on the state of the Substance Abuse academic in the appalachians region and the steps are being taken to address it in a comprehensive and most mportantly in a local way. He a. R. C. Report, opioids in appalachia, released this past may, shows that the rate of opioid overdoses was 72 higher in appalachia counties compared to nine appalachian ounties. Overdosed death rates in several states of the region are among the highest in the nation. This is a tragedy on a human level that impact in one way or another every person living in our communities throughout the region. But another thing i noticed from the moment i took office as the federal cochairman of a. R. C. Was the toll these grim statistics take not only in lives lost but also the impact on Economic Opportunity. Substance abuse robs our workforce of healthy, ready workers, deprives our local overnemtns of resources. And generally zaps our populations of hope. A. R. C. Is an Economic Development entity. Thats our congressionally mandated mission, but i realize we couldnt address the economic challenges faced by many in the region without giving attention to the Substance Abuse challenge. It was the elephant in the room requiring us to think hard about how we as a. R. C. Could help communities respond. Our partnership is a part of that and the may report yielded important recommendations. Most essential being local leadership. Every community is different, each with a unique array of resources and assets. Some may have assets that may not be readily apparent as having a earing on this chaj challenge. We moe its critical and it is the basis for this partnership we know it is critical and it is the basis for this partnership that local leaders have the tools and facts in hand because they are the ones making the policy decisions and directing the resources that are most impactful on this issue. In many instances, positive results are being realized where local officials are take on a more active role in leading the response, ensuring more of these officials have the tools to affect leadership ensuring best practices to be implemented on the local level will be critical in helping communities impacted by the Substance Abuse epidemic. Also we need to recognize that those individuals in our communities struggling with Substance Abuse need help and likewise recognize the negative impact that stigma plays in both individualss long term recovery and Community Efforts to address this challenge. While people in recovery can ultimately be assets to their communities, too often, stigma can serve as a roadblock that hurts us as well as them. In an effort to provide local leaders ith information and best ractices they need, naco has helped sessions in 10 appalchian states based on reports and submitted articles to statewide leadership in other states discussing key recommendations for local action and showcasing case studies of effective initiatives. Many communities in the Appalachian Region are leading by addressing the issue for multiple angles from treatment and Recovery Services to job training and employment, and we hope with the efforts of this partnership and others, appalachian communities will continue to be out front in fighting this crisis, one that impacts the nation as a whole. Unfortunately, the Opioid Epidemic first showed itself in the Appalachian Region and i believe appalachian communities can also lead the way in finding solutions to the problem. At a. R. C. Were also taking ction and focusing on visiting facilitating the difficult transition from Substance Abuse recovery to the workforce. Last year we held listening sessions in six states, convening leaders from state and local governments, Treatment Recovery services and employers, among others to better understand effective strategies and the pitfalls that can strain well meaning efforts. We learn from those who have been dealing with this issue on the ground for a number of years now. Then we compiled that data from those sessions and gave it to our Substance AbuseAdvisory Council with members appointed by the appalachian governors and myself. This is a group including Law Enforcement, treatment experts, employment specialists and the like. The council met several times and worked very hard to produce 14 recommendations for creating communitybased recovery ecosystems designed to help individuals navigate the process from the beginning of treatment and ultimately to work. Mployment in fact supports and assistance recovery. We have been told, time and time again. The report has been approved by the commission, released publicly, and served as a basis for a. R. C. s limitation that works. How during Substance Abuse and Building Local recovery ecosystems. Now, there are no easy or Quick Solutions to this epidemic, but that does not mean we should not confronted head on, use the tools at our disposal and ombine forces. The partnership we are happening today next year we have hard data and proven strategies on much to mueller and approaches. This challenge requires a whole of society approach. But, more it requires folks working together in a more comprehensive way for partnerships, including treatment providers, nonprofits. But this is a community colleges, private businesses, civic groups and others, often working with people and organizations that do not have a history of working with in the past. Local officials are in a key position to convene these ntities and develop the myriad players into a structured approach in their community. I want to thank everyone for being here today and i look forward to hearing what our expert panelists have to say. More importantly, my hope is that this report will serve as a helpful resource for local leaders like you as you work to address this challenge in your own communities. And i want to thank naco artnering with a. R. C. In this important effort. So thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here. [applause] as tim said, you really cant talk about Economic Development without talking about workforce and you cant talk workforce without talking about Substance Abuse, addiction, and the things that were confronted with. Counties are on the front line, and i think were going to have a great discussion today, talking about some solutions and some ideas and the results of the work thats taking place. So, to facilitate, moderate the irst panel, im going to bring up hadi. Up. Is i say bring he is going to do it from there. We worked very closely. He was the staff person with naco that really staffed the city county Opiate Task Force work and has been involved in this now for a number of years. Im going to turn it over to you. Thank you. Thank you, judge moore, and cochair thomas for your remarks and your leadership of this project throughout the last year. And it is my pleasure to introduce our panelists and to moderate this first conversation about county solutions and how county leaders throughout appalachia have stepped up to lead the charge in reversing the tide of the Opioid Epidemic. Before doing that, a couple of quick housekeeping items. We will hold off on q a until after the second panel and take all questions at once. And also, we are Live Streaming this event, as judge moore mentioned, so please make sure to wait for a microphone before speaking or asking questions so those following virtually can also hear you all. So, with that, its my pleasure to introduce two great appalachian county leaders who will help lead this first conversation. Commissioner puckett, who needs no introduction amongst the naco audience but is a native southern West Virginian who was elected as a Mercer County commissioner in november 2014. Alongside serving as the county commissioner he also serves as executive director of Community Connections, which is Mercer Countys Family Resource network where he continually reaches across county and state lines to help guide the prevention and Community Building process. Commissioner puckett has been a key partner with naco for a lot of our work around addressing opioids misuse and along with judge moore, i think, have been our really key champions in this effort over the last several years. His county is featured as a case study in the opioids in appalachia report, which naco published with naco and arc and which we have many copies of outside as well as on the naco and a. R. C. Websites, and he has also served on the naco nlc task force on the Opioid Epidemic. Representing the great state of pennsylvania, were glad to have commissioner snider, a clinton ounty commissioner since january 2012. Commissioner snider currently serves as president of the county commissioner association of pennsylvania or ccap and he has five priorities as president. Behavioral health funding, solutions to the ems crisis, county property tax reform, Rural Broadband expansion and adult probation funding, and as our opening speakers commented, all of these issues are part of the discussion today. And lastly, prior to his election, commissioner snyder owned and operated the chatham 3 years andor 30 3 was a member of the Keystone Central School board for 20 years so please join me in welcoming our great