The state has six strategies to combat overdose deaths, said Joanna Champney, director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. Those include reducing the negative stigma of addiction, getting more people screened for substance use disorders and blanketing the state with the overdose reversal medication Narcan. DHSS is also reaching out to people experiencing homelessness and focusing on state funding of detox and treatment programs.

“We will not rest until drug poisoning deaths and overdose deaths in our state are at zero,” she said. “But we are grateful for the efforts of all of our partners to continue flattening the curve.”

The timetable for “harm reduction” vending machines to be placed at five sites around the state has been pushed from this spring to early summer, Champney said. These machines will provide items like Narcan and fentanyl and xylazine test strips.

DSAMH is also hoping to recruit a partner to build another state-funded detox facility for low-income individuals and those on Medicaid in Kent or Sussex County.

Currently, people who are uninsured or underinsured must travel to the Kirkwood Highway area in New Castle County to get services at the only state detox facility. Champney said she’s hoping state lawmakers approve a higher reimbursement rate for Fiscal Year 2025, starting in July, which could make it more attractive for a provider to consider a state contract for that type of care.