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Forsyth County seeks public input for opioid funds

Associated Press/Mark Lennihan, File photo shows an arrangement of Oxycodone pills.

Local governments across North Carolina are starting to see the first payments from a national multi-billion dollar opioid settlementForsyth County officials are seeking public input on how to spend the county's portion.

The state is expected to receive around $750 million over an 18-year period. It's part of an agreement with drug distributors to remediate the impact of opioids on communities nationwide.

Forsyth County is set to receive more than $20 million to implement prevention, treatment and other strategies.

County officials have to check off certain requirements, though, before distributing the funds. The first is to create a committee of local stakeholders that will issue a report with recommendations on how to spend the money. Their first meeting is next week.

Denise Price, Forsyth County's behavioral health services director says a recently launched online survey and community meeting is being planned to get public input.

“You are really hard pressed today to find anyone who hasn't been impacted by the opioid epidemic, so everyone has a perspective that's important and valued and that we want to hear,” says Price.

The funding couldn't come at a better time for impacted communities across the state. Price says emergency room overdose visits in Forsyth County are up about 10 percent this year compared to last year – a trend that has been moving upward for several years.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, last year, there were nearly 3,500 deaths by overdose in the state and 131 in Forsyth County.

Follow WFDD's, Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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