The Reno County Health Department is hosting the Department of Justice Reaching Rural Grantees today and Thursday this week for a site visit to Reno County.  There are individuals from rural communities across the United States who have received Department of Justice funding to work on Substance Use Disorder related initiatives in their perspective communities.  They traveled to Reno County to meet our partners and understand the journey the Reno County Health Department has been through in hiring someone with lived experience, increasing access to care, and partnering with the recovery community and community organizations. The group is holding their meeting at the Reno County Correctional Facility, 1800 S. Severance Ave. 

The first presentation was the "Overview of Reno County's Efforts to Address Substance Use Disorder." Reno County leaders discussed many of the programs and policies in place in our community to address substance use disorder (SUD) and support individuals in recovery. Topics covered during this panel included the Reno County Drug Court system, jail programming to support incarcerated individuals, public health responses to SUD, the local drug impact taskforce, the use of data in measuring and reducing SUD, and how the hiring of an individual in recovery has impacted the work and the direction Reno County is heading.  

Speakers from Reno County were Thomas Stanton, District Attorney, Reno County; Randy Henderson, former Sheriff, Reno County; Megan Gottschalk, Assistant Director of Community Health, Reno County; Nick Baldetti, Chief Quality Officer, Hutchinson Regional Healthcare; and Seth Dewey, Regional Director, Mirror, Inc.

Other presentations were Incorporating Social Determinants of Health into Overdose Prevention and Community Outreach, Reaching Rural "We" and "it," Identifying Community Needs and Ensuring Stakeholder Buy In and Next Steps and Big Picture Thinking in Kansas. People visiting Reno County were from Miami County, Kansas, Illinois, Wyoming, Nebraska, Arkansas, Georgia, California and North Dakota.