Travis County awarded $1.6 million federal grant to combat overdose crisis

On Monday, Travis County Judge Andy Brown announced a new resource for combating the opioid overdose crisis in the county – and reported new numbers that suggest current public health strategies are working. The county was awarded a $1.6 million federal grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance through the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Site-Based Program, to go toward the launch of a jail-based substance use intake program, which aims to “provide holistic support for those transitioning back into our community,” Brown said in a press conference Monday. “The program is more than just about treatment – it’s also about creating a pathway to recovery and ensuring a continuum of care that will help break the cycle of substance use and incarceration.”

According to a county report released last year, people exiting the carceral system are eight times more likely to die of an overdose within the first six months. That’s why a jail-based program will target those most vulnerable to overdose, CommUnityCare’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Yagoda said.

“The transition out of incarceration is one of the most vulnerable and dangerous times for individuals with substance use disorders,” Yagoda said. “When people are in jail, especially if they’re in jail for a longer period of time and they don’t have access to medically assisted treatment, their tolerance can change quite a bit. So they get out of jail, they don’t have support – during this transition, the risk of a relapse and fatal overdose skyrockets. Yet, patients on medications for opioid use disorders have half the risk of dying.” 

The county jail already has some medically assisted treatment, and this funding will help expand not only that, but also peer-supported planning for transition back into the community done by Integral Care and overseen by the county’s Health and Human Services Division. And these kinds of programs seem to be working – for the first time in two years, overdose deaths are declining, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Keith Pinckard announced.

In 2023, Travis County saw 486 overdose deaths, 250 of which occurred in the first six months of the year. In the first six months of 2024, there have been 221 deaths, according to preliminary data – a 19 percent decrease in accidental drug deaths overall and a 26 percent decrease in those involving fentanyl. Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Rob Luckritz said that in addition to deaths decreasing, “we are seeing a decrease in the number of opiate-related emergencies here in Austin, in Travis County, and we do attribute that directly to a lot of the efforts that we’ve been doing as an entire community in terms of harm reduction education, Narcan outreach and medication treatment programs.”

Narcan is a brand name for naloxone, a drug used to reverse and block the effects of opioids.

In addition to the jail-based program, the county and city are committed to a public health approach to the crisis: Luckritz said that EMS has recently expanded its naloxone kit program thanks to the continued funding from the nationwide opiate settlement, “and as of late last week, every single ambulance in the Austin-Travis County EMS system now carries a stock of naloxone rescue kits that medics can distribute to any member of the community who is at risk for overdose, or who may be in a situation where they encounter someone who has experienced an overdose.”

CommUnityCare has likewise expanded its services and early next year plans to open a new addiction medicine clinic at its Capital Plaza location, near Interstate 35 at 51st Street. 

However, officials stressed that the county is not out of the woods yet.

“In Travis County, the opioid epidemic continues to disproportionately impact marginalized communities,” Yagoda said. From 2020 to 2022, fatal overdose rates among Black residents rose by 66 percent; those among Hispanic residents rose 96 percent; among white residents, 32 percent. “While recent data shows important improvements, and we’re grateful to receive any good news, these statistics only tell part of the story.”

Brown also stressed that “we don’t have a perfect system” for identifying how many overdoses are happening that don’t lead to deaths, or wherein people don’t call emergency services for fear of arrest. 

“We’re still very far away from winning the battle against this crisis – overdoses are still the number one cause of accidental death here in Travis County, and overdose deaths still remain above the levels we saw two or three years ago,” Brown said. “But this progress shows that our collaborative efforts – whether it’s increasing access to Narcan or naloxone, expanding treatment options or launching innovative programs like the one we’re announcing here today – are having some real impacts.”

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.