Paulding County Sheriff Jason K. Landers, Paulding County Probate/Juvenile Judge Michael A. Wehrkamp, and Ashley Tope, a social worker at Westwood Behavioral Health, Inc., recently represented Paulding County at an opioid workshop sponsored by the federal government. The three-day event hosted by the Supreme Court of Ohio in Columbus facilitated collaboration among rural judges and sheriffs from six states across the Great Lakes Region, allowing teams to learn and share best practices in an effort to maximize existing budget resources and increase funding, staffing, and treatment to combat the opioid problem.
“It was an honor to be nominated by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor to represent Paulding County at this workshop alongside Sheriff Landers and Ms. Tope,” Wehrkamp said. “The simple fact is the drug crisis has been amplified in rural communities like ours due to a lack of resources and it’s encouraging to see these issues getting attention at both the state and federal levels.”
A significant focus of the workshop related to the numerous challenges created for rural governments that lack the administrative support necessary to navigate federal bureaucracy and complex grant application processes.
“We’re hopeful the folks from the federal agencies will take our feedback and push lawmakers to eliminate the many unnecessary strings tied to valuable federal grants,” said Landers. “The added layers of bureaucracy make it incredibly difficult for small communities to gain access to funding that could support increased staffing and needed programming in rural areas.”
The workshop was a timely one for Judge Wehrkamp. “The Juvenile Court is currently working with our community partners to increase treatment options for youth and families affected by drug use, and we’re also in the beginning stages of starting a juvenile drug court. This workshop was a welcome opportunity to speak with colleagues around our region to ensure we’re effectively applying lessons learned to these new initiatives.”
Workshop attendees were presented with data showing that implementing best practices saves lives—something not lost on the team from Paulding County.
“Our goal is to maximize our resources to help those who truly want to get better, providing the support they need as they work to get back into society and become good members of our community again, good parents again and good children again,” Landers said.
The workshop was a collaboration of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Rural Development, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
