County awards Bains $8M to fight fentanyl
Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains was approved by the Kern County Board of Supervisors to disperse state funding to several law enforcement and health care agencies to combat fentanyl in Kern County.
The funding for the agencies to participate in Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force was approved during the Kern County Board of Supervisors’ meeting Tuesday morning, according to a county news release.
Bains received $4.16 million to distribute to law enforcement agencies to strengthen drug-related task forces and $4 million for medical providers to improve substance use and addiction services, according to a news release from her office.
For countywide law enforcement agencies, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office — which runs the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force — received $700,000 and Kern County Probation received $200,000. The Kern County District Attorney’s Office also received $660,000 to improve its crime labs, according to Bains’ release.
Several other police departments in Kern County also received funding to reinstate or grow their drugs and narcotics teams. The Delano, Shafter and Arvin Police Departments received $700,000 each while Wasco and McFarland Police Departments each received $250,000, according to the news release.
For health care agencies, Kern Medical received $1 million to expand its fellowship program and medication assistance recovery clinic. Clinica Sierra Vista also received $1 million to increase its specialized health care workforce and increase access to street medicine, the news release said.
“This funding is not a silver bullet, but it is a great start to combating one of the most challenging problems in our community right now. We need enforcement and treatment, not one or the other,” Bains said in a news release from her office.