Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Lawrence County’s growing substance abuse problem
A few months ago, Rep. Barry Doss and I introduced the idea of a community organization that would fight Lawrence County’s growing substance abuse problem.
We invited you all to a public meeting where the Lawrence County Substance Abuse Coalition (LCSAC) was created, based on a model that has made a big difference in other counties across the state. A board of directors was chosen to develop a specific plan of action with funding from the State department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services.
Today I’m happy to announce the latest development from LCSAC. The board hired Jenny Doerflinger Golden as its director, and she started work June 13. Her office is on the second floor of the Lawrence County Courthouse, in space occupied by the District Attorney before he consolidated his local offices on the Square.
Jenny and her husband Brad grew up in Lawrenceburg, but have been in Bowling Green, Kentucky for the last 14 years. Jenny reports, “many prayers have gone into moving back home and I feel this opportunity is an answer to those prayers.”
I believe it was an answer to prayers on our behalf as well. I asked LCSAC board chairman Sissy Garner for a comment to add to this column. She said, “Jenny is a delightful person who brings extensive knowledge and great passion to this extremely important position. She loves Lawrence County, and she is driven to make this wonderful place we call home an even better place to live."
That absolutely sums it up. Jenny spent the last 14 years working in Community Wellness and Health Education for the Bowling Green-based Med Center Health, which owns five hospitals in south central Kentucky. One of her duties as Community Wellness Director was to work with the community to assess health care needs, develop a plan of action, and help implement the plan on behalf of the hospital.
Priorities she worked on included Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, Lung Cancer, Obesity and Substance Abuse. She was an active member of the Barren River Initiative to Get Healthy Together (BRIGHT) Coalition. One program she helped implement in Bowling Green was distribution of saliva-based drug testing kits and information about ways parents can talk to their kids about drugs. She partnered with Operation Unite and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to offer the “Give Me a Reason” campaign, which offered teens a great excuse to refuse drugs: “My parents may drug test me.”
“I worked hard in Bowling Green to improve health,” Jenny told me of her time in Kentucky, “every time I implemented a program, I would think, ‘I wish I could do this for my home town.’ I love my home town, and I want to work to protect and improve the lives of people in Lawrence County.”
The interview process gave applicants a head start on understanding the issues by asking them to make a presentation about Lawrence County’s substance abuse problem. I have looked at those numbers many times, and this is the bottom line:
A significant number of our residents misuse and abuse prescription painkillers, methamphetamines, alcohol, and other drugs. We have a higher rate of drug abuse and drug-related arrests than most other counties in the state. We, along with the rest of Tennessee, are seeing higher numbers of babies who have drug dependencies at birth.
If someone in your family does not have an issue with drugs or alcohol, you are in the minority. At the very least, you help bear the expense in terms of rising health care costs, taxes, and lost productivity in the private and public sector.
Jenny says one of her first priorities is to assess the community and develop a strategic plan of action based on needs specific to Lawrence County. Evidence-based strategies – those that have a successful track record – will be put in place to create positive change.
Her goal is to collaborate with other groups including our Community Advisory Board, Health Council, Health Department, the school system’s Project AWARE, law enforcement, health care professionals, faith-based organizations, parents, and youth.
She would also like to work with you. The next public meeting is set for Monday, August 1 (time and place to be announced) and she hopes many can attend. You already made the first LCSAC event a huge success by turning in 174 pounds (imagine!) of prescription pills you no longer needed. Our Sheriff’s Department also has a permanent drop-box to properly dispose of unused prescription medications.
Jenny stresses that the work ahead is a process, something that will take effort and time. “I am ready to work for Lawrence County,” she told me. Join her Monday, August 1 at the next LCSAC meeting. Details of the next meeting will be announced soon. For more information, call 766-4175.
