Chatham CNT

A partnership forged with CNT, the Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire and the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System to curb the loss of our youth to the opioid epidemic, developed the Positive Peer Influencer Program (PPI). The PPI Program aims to empower high school students to educate and inspire middle school students, fostering a supportive community where informed decision-making, resistance to peer pressure, and awareness of critical issues such as the dangers of fentanyl and opioids are prioritized. Through peer-to-peer education, we strive to create a generation of responsible, confident, and compassionate individuals committed to making positive choices and influencing others to do the same.

The CCPD BHU unit conducts follow-ups Monday through Friday to connect people and families to resources designed to address mental health issues and criminality reducing incarceration and police contact while increasing connectivity to care. The team consists of an officer and a licensed clinician to provide on-scene assessment, recommend services, and address any barriers to treatment.

The program uses a multi-disciplinary approach to provide patients with the right care, at the right place and the right time. Our team collaborates with police, EMS, social services, behavioral health, primary care, and homeless authorities through a HIPPA-compliant platform- JULOTA - that assists in effective resource management and allocation, including data collection and sharing amongst partners.

This collaboration brings crisis intervention, prevention, and care to the individual wherever they are. This allows for the exploration of barriers to care and provides a team approach to solutions that work for the individual, the community, and service providers.

CNT’s Adult Drug Awareness Platform is designed to educate the average parent about the dangers of all illicit drugs and the warning signs that their child may be going down the wrong path. This interactive experience will take adults through a mocked-up version of a teenager’s bedroom. It is filled with hiding spots and red flags that might be hidden in plain sight and not be given a second thought. A tour guide will take parents through the various areas of the room to point out the hidden locations and explain their significance. This platform is based on cases that CNT has investigated here in Chatham County.

CNT in developing a comprehensive opioid response, identified the lack of dual-diagnosis doctors practicing in Chatham County who are qualified to treat individuals that have a substance abuse disorder and a mental health disorder.

Partnering with the Savannah-based Gateway Community Service Board, the board utilizing opioid settlement funds now has two additional dual diagnosis doctors practicing in Chatham County.

As a result of CNT working closely with the Savannah Chatham County Public School System to promote drug awareness and the dangers of opioids and fentanyl to high school and middle school students, school administrators identified the need for additional licensed practicing counselors (LPC) working within the school system. Opioid settlement funds are being utilized to provide additional education for existing school counselors to obtain certified degrees to become licensed practicing counselors. Over the next several years this program will add 12 LPCs working in the school system.

Drug counselors have a very difficult and essential role in assisting individuals going through treatment and recovery for substance abuse. Nationally the retention rate for drug counselors is low. Working with the Recovery Place of Savannah, opioid settlement funds are being utilized to supplement their pay. A counselor after working a year in Chatham County will receive a stipend as an incentive to remain practicing within the county.