Dr. Hillary Kunins, director of behavioral and mental health, hosted a press conference yesterday about what the city is doing to address the overdose crisis.
Kunins reported that in June of this year, 48 people died from overdose, which is less than last June. Overall, compared to the first half of last year, there have been 31 fewer overdose deaths.
According to Kunins, the city will continue to be committed to addressing the overdose crisis through social programs.
"Every strategy and initiative the department is deploying is to drive us toward our ultimate goal, saving lives from overdose. And this means making drug treatment easier to get into and more appealing so that more people want to enter treatment and recovery.”
To combat this crisis, the Department of Public Health has expanded their street outreach teams to seven days a week. These teams offer drug treatment and they direct people to mental health services.
They also plan to expand the number of “contingency management” programs, a treatment strategy that gives people financial incentives, such as gift cards, every time they submit a negative drug test.