This week, Brunswick County Commissioners voted unanimously to hire a mental health and substance abuse clinician under the Social Services department.
The new hire will cost the county $169,703, but that won’t come from the general fund. Instead, it will come out of the $13.6 million the county received from the opioid settlement.
That money is required to be spent between 2022 and 2038 for eligible high-impact strategies to address the opioid epidemic.
Related: AG Josh Stein talks NC Opioid Settlement funding and medically-assisted treatment
The clinician will work with the child welfare services department to help social workers manage cases in which infants test positive for drugs, or where families have their children removed because of substance abuse.
The county commission also unanimously approved the use of $100,000 in ARPA funds to place 51 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) on county properties like parks, government buildings, and libraries.
The AEDs are intended to help paramedics administer care to victims of cardiac arrest, which is among the most common causes of death in the United States.
An additional $700,000 in ARPA funds will provide radio equipment and other equipment updates to fire stations in the county, and the county will spend $3.5 million from the funds to fill out their county staff.
