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Map of Collier County, Florida

Collier County,
Florida

Population: 385,980


Collier County has the largest land area of any county in Florida and receives nearly 2 million visitors every year, which adds to its nearly 400,000 year-round population. In 2018, Collier County documented 173 overdoses, 31 of which were fatal. The county has been working with High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) to track overdoses to get an accurate picture of the drug problem. Armed with this information, the county intended to implement a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program with a focus on incarcerated individuals who were more likely to overdose on release because of a diminished threshold for such drugs following their incarceration. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office used its Building Bridges implementation funding to add a discharge planner in the jail. The discharge planner worked alongside MAT staff members within the jail and made contact with the inmates’ community MAT providers to notify the treatment providers of the inmates’ anticipated release dates. In addition, the discharge planner was responsible for making follow-up appointments for the inmates and providing the inmates with their “continuum of care packet” containing information regarding appointments and resources in the community. The addition of a new discharge planner to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office team ensured a continuity of care for substance use treatment after release into the community.