Kenosha County Executive Samantha Kerkman today announced the next step in the county’s
ongoing efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
With a research project completed and related recommendations presented earlier this year,
Kerkman announced that the Opioid Settlement Advisory Panel created in 2022 will now
disband, with the work shifting to continuing collaborations between community partners.
“Two and a half years ago, this panel set out to explore the most efficient and effective uses of
the settlement dollars that we’re receiving from pharmaceutical companies,” Kerkman said.
“With the research conducted and recommendations in hand, the panel leaders and I are
considering its work to be done, with our time now best spent on pursuing programming and
services that will make a difference in curbing the overdose epidemic.”
County Board Supervisor Guida Brown, a member of the panel, said the county now has an
understanding of the community’s needs regarding opioid abatement dollars.
“Disbanding the committee will streamline efforts to combat opioid misuse, addiction and
overdoses,” Brown said. “However, the work is far from done, and each and every community
member needs to continue to be mindful about the dangers of all drugs, including alcohol.”
Chaired by Kenosha County Division of Behavioral Health Services Director Kari Foss, the
panel also included representatives of law enforcement, the recovery community and health care.
Foss said these partners will continue working together closely to pursue the objectives of the
research report that was presented in March.
That project, conducted in partnership with Kane Communications Group, had two primary
objectives: To explore the effectiveness of services and resources throughout Kenosha County in
relation to opioid prevention and treatment, and to identify areas for improvement in the
effectiveness of those services.
Researchers identified housing — particularly recovery housing — as the top area of need, with
strong feedback also offered on transportation and job assistance. Other priority areas included
support for navigating services and recovery and improved education, awareness and
communication.
Foss said this work will be actively pursued outside of the realm of the oversight panel.
Meanwhile, an online dashboard that went live earlier this year will continue to be updated
regularly to inform the public of how the settlement dollars are being used.
The transition to pursuing the research report’s recommendations comes as the opioid crisis is
showing signs of abating. Foss noted that preliminary numbers show overdose deaths decreasing
27 percent nationwide year over year from 2023 to 2024, and Kenosha County is seeing a similar
improvement.
Foss also noted that Wisconsin again led the nation in total pounds of medications collected
during National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 26, with Kenosha County collecting
a total of 2,182 pounds.
Sheriff David Zoerner, a member of the panel, said the group was able to make
recommendations to the county executive for high-level investments, such as peer support
training, school-based prevention curriculum, equipment and research into what is needed in the
community.
“The panel got us off to a great start,” Zoerner said. “Now the entire community can start
implementing the recommendations of the findings report. I look forward to working with
Human Services as we continue our efforts in the community as well as with our detentions
population.”
Information available online:
The full opioid prevention and treatment research report is available on the Kenosha County
website, at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/23204/KC—Opioid-
Research-Findings-Report-FINAL-250213.
An online dashboard, to be updated regularly, to provide public updates on how the opioid
settlement funds are being used in Kenosha County is available at
https://www.kenoshacounty.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7317.
A similar, statewide dashboard on the use of opioid settlement payments to all Wisconsin
counties and municipalities, published by Forward Analytics, is available at
https://www.forward-a
