Etowah County, Alabama, is located approximately 60 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama, and is home to almost 104,000 residents. It is the smallest county in the state yet holds the fifth-largest county detention facility in the state out of 67 county jails. The Etowah County Sheriff’s Office applied for the Building Bridges Planning Initiative to address the growing concern of opioid-related overdose deaths in the county, as there is currently no form of treatment for individuals with a substance use disorder in the jail.

Etowah County’s proposed goals for the Building Bridges Planning Initiative are as follows:

• Implement a screening tool to identify withdrawal, current use of substances, and whether the individual has a current prescription for medication-assisted treatment (MAT).
• Develop and implement an intake process with trained staff members using the new screening tool.
• Train jail staff, judicial staff, and medical staff about MAT.
• Identify funding to support start-up costs, development of policy and procedures, and outpatient services in the detention center.