Cumberland County,
Maine
Population: 293,557
Cumberland County is home to almost 22 percent of Maine’s total population. From 2015 to 2017, Cumberland County had an average of 3.1 drug-related overdose deaths per 10,000 residents. It also had the highest number and percentage of overdoses in Maine at 22 percent. During 2018, the Cumberland County Division of Maine Pretrial Services screened approximately 1,600 defendants prior to initial appearance and supervised 630 defendants in the community. Approximately 70 percent had substance use disorders (SUDs), 50 percent had opioid use disorders, and 60 percent had mental health disorders, yet only 40 percent received referrals to substance use services and 20 percent to mental health services. The Cumberland County Jail used its Building Bridges implementation funding to provide rental and transportation assistance for individuals who had SUDs and were leaving incarceration and to hire a peer support worker who offered informational sessions at the Cumberland County Jail and provided coaching to individuals in the jail and in the community. The jail also used funds to expand and improve its data collection and sharing capacities, which included developing business associate agreements among four data sources to allow for data matching and analysis.