MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Quick Response Team at the Monongalia County Department of Health received a $1 million grant in the latest round congressional-directed funding.
This grant, which was announced by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, will fund a data-driven effort to support continued improvement and widen their reach in the county. A full-time data analyst will conduct the three-year study, which could begin as early as next month.
“To get this through the U.S. Department of Justice is a huge deal to us,” QRT Coordinator Brittany Irick said. “We’re excited and really grateful for the opportunity, and I look forward to what we’ll be able to do with this.”
Irick said that over the four-year life of the team, so far they have connected thousands of people who have recently suffered an opioid overdose with medical and recovery services. The team has also distributed thousands of free naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug.
Irick said they applied for the same grant unsuccessfully in 2020 and 2021; they skipped 2022 before coming up with a new application in 2023.
“Luckily, the Bureau for Justice Assistance has been really good at providing feedback on previous applications as to why they weren’t funded, and we took that information and really tried to implement it into this application process.”
The Monongalia County QRT has earned the United States Attorney Award for Outstanding Community Drug Prevention and has collaborated and trained with QRTs in Michigan and Kentucky.
Irick said their focus will be on identifying gaps in their data collection while attempting to maximize the data available from partner agencies and larger organizations.
“There’s always room for improvement, and that’s what we’re doing with this grant,” Irick said. “We want to make sure we’re getting all the data and doing all of the right things to help our community that we can.”
Once the data is available, Irick expects to have a better picture of their performance in the community and where impactful improvements can be made.
“Looking at the numbers and asking, have we had an impact on reducing overdose fatalities and reducing the number of overdoses in our county?” Irick asked. “That’s really hard to determine because there is a lack of data that tells us we’ve been successful at that.”
As the relatively young team gains more experience, the data can be a multiplier in the continuing battle against opioid addiction.
“Try to determine how we can make better decisions within our QRT to be successful and reach more people,” Irick said. “Ideally, our idea of success is reducing morbidity and mortality and lowering overdose fatalities.”
The QRT was created by the Monongalia County Health Department with a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration grant from the federal government.