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OFFICE OF THE STATE'S ATTORNEY
LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS
MICHAEL G. NERHEIM
STATE'S ATTORNEY
June 1, 2018
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cynthia Vargas
(847) 309-6065
cvargas@lakecountyil.gov
Contact: Chelsea Laliberte Barnes
Phone: (847) 814-3988
Email: chelsea@lilve4lali.org
THE LAKE
COUNTY OPIOID INITIATIVE’S ‘A WAY OUT’ PROGRAM CONTINUES ITS EXPANSION
395
participants have accessed treatment via the ‘A Way Out’ Program
(Lake County, IL June 1, 2018) The Lake County Opioid
Initiative (LCOI) is proud to announce that the Waukegan Police Department and
the Lake Zurich Police Department have been added as entry points for the Lake
County Opioid Initiative’s ‘A Way Out’ (AWO) Program. With these additions,
there are now a total of thirteen ‘A Way Out’ police entry points across Lake
County.
“The City of Waukegan is very grateful for the opportunity to join this
program. This will be another tool that the Waukegan Police Department
will have to combat the opioid crisis and further assist our residents and
their families in mitigating the direct and indirect effects of opioid abuse,”
said Wayne Walles, Waukegan Police Chief.
The eleven police departments currently participating in the program include:
- Deerfield
Police Department
- Fox
Lake Police Department
- Grayslake
Police Department
- Gurnee
Police Department
- Lake
County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff’s Marine Unit, Sheriff’s Highway
Patrol
- Lake
Forest Police Department
- Libertyville
Police Department
- Mundelein
Police Department
- Round
Lake Beach Police Department
- Round
Lake Park Police Department
- Zion
Police Department
‘A
Way Out’ is a program developed by the Lake County Opioid Initiative to create
additional treatment access points, reduce crime, reduce substance-related
harms, and re-frame the role law enforcement plays in community safety. Through
the program, people seeking help for their substance use can go to one of the
police entry points and request help. The police work with the Lake County
Health Department to find appropriate treatment for the individual. Substance
use is a public health problem, and this program addresses it as such.
The current participating police departments have helped 395 individuals access
treatment since ‘A Way Out’s’ inception on June 1, 2016. The total number of
individuals helped into a treatment provider by year are:
- 60
individuals in 2016
- 209
individuals in 2017
- 96
individuals up to May 2018
AWO’s
largest residential and outpatient treatment providers are: Gateway Lake Villa,
the Lake County Health Department, Chicago Behavioral Health Hospital, and
NICASA Behavioral Health Services. Furthermore, AWO is averaging just over 15
participants per month - with September 2017 being the largest served month as
34 participants accessed treatment.
- Approximately,
78% of AWO’s total placement is to residential treatment programs
- The
average age of the participant is 32.5 years old.
“The Lake Zurich Police Department is looking forward to being able to offer
treatment options to those who need them through the ‘A Way Out’ program. This
is a vital community care-taking function that the Department is committed to,”
said Steve Husak, Chief of the Lake Zurich Police Department.
The Lake County Opioid Initiative is committed to developing, implementing,
evaluating and sustaining a multi-strategy county-wide effort to prevent opioid
abuse, addiction, overdose, and death.
In addition to the ‘A Way Out’ program, the Lake County Opioid Initiative has
launched other programs to help support citizens impacted by the opioid
epidemic. The Police Naloxone Program has saved 262 lives since December 25,
2014. Text-A-Tip, a digital crisis intervention service, has received a total of
17,039 texts since September 30, 2015. Finally, the Lake County Opioid
Initiative has collaborated with community leaders to bring prevention
education information to parents and students. In the year 2018, a total of
five opioid/heroin prevention education programs have been conducted across
Lake County.
LCOI also supports a network of prescription disposal boxes in Lake County.
Partnerships include: Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO); municipal law
enforcement, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Lake County State’s
Attorney’s Office, the Lake County Health Department, the Lake County Opioid
Initiative, and the Lake County Underage Drinking and Drug Prevention Task
Force. In the year 2017, over 13,000 pounds of unwanted/unused prescription drugs
were collected.
To raise funds to continue accessibility of these programs, the Lake County
Opioid Initiative will be hosting its first annual 'Save a Life' fundraising
event at the Double-Tree by Hilton in Mundelein, IL on September 14, 2018 at
6:30pm.
For more information regarding the ‘A Way Out’ program, please visit www.awayoutlc.org. For more information
regarding the Lake County Opioid Initiative, please visit www.opioidinitiative.org.
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Lake County State's Attorney's Office 18 N. County Street Waukegan, IL 60085 Phone: (847) 377-3000
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