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Town Hall Forum On Opioids And Mental Health Services Draw Hundreds To Saline High School

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To address the opioid crisis in Washtenaw County, the Sheriff's Office, along with U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingelland U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg, hosted a forum on the issue.  It attracted over 200 people toSaline High School where it was held. 

Over 1,100 opioid-related cases have been reported in Washtenaw County since 2011.  329 of those resulted in death according to county records.  

Marci Scalera is with the Community Mental Health Partnership.  She was part of the panel at the forum and says they will soon launch a new program for people who overdose and survive. 

"We're going to go to the hospital, have a peer and a case manager that will engage that individual and their family to be able to see if we can get them to agree or engage them in thinking about going into treatment."

Scalera says they plan to work with the Sheriff's Office and other groups in the county on the new program.

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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu

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