The Door County Department of Health and Human Services is receiving more than half a million dollars in state funding in 2025 to continue the local fight against substance use disorder. The HHS board voted to accept three different grants from state sources at its regular meeting on Jan. 13. 

The Door County Board of Supervisors will review the grants and vote to accept them at its meeting later this month. 

The Wisconsin State Opioid Response grant is $136,543 and intended to expand access to treatment for opioid and stimulant use disorder. Specifically, the money is for access to FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone. Reducing the number of people waiting for treatment and reducing overdose deaths are also funding goals. 

The money is awarded to communities that demonstrate a high need for prevention, recovery and treatment services. The state determines the level of need through numbers of cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome (when a baby withdraws from a substance they were exposed to in utero), admissions to treatment programs, opioid and stimulant-related hospitalizations and deaths, unemployment rates, and population, among other criteria. 

According to a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which administers the grants, Door County HHS was one of 37 requests. Requests exceeded the $8.5 million in available funding and adjustments were made accordingly, the letter said. 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services also awarded HHS $222,691 for support and expansion of Door County’s Youth Diversion program. The program, called Bridgeways for Youth, is operated through the Door County Sheriff’s Office referrals. Law enforcement refers young people who have substance use and co-occurring disorders to the program to prevent them from entering the criminal justice system. The program was implemented in 2021. 

This particular grant includes funding to employ another adolescent therapist for youth and families needing mental health and substance use disorder treatment. The board unanimously voted to recommend the Door County Board of Supervisors approve the position for a February through December 2025 term, to be reviewed annually in the budget process. 

The third grant, a Treatment Alternatives and Diversion grant, is from the Wisconsin Department of Justice in the amount of $266,667. The money will be put toward the county’s drug treatment court program, established in December 2020, and toward “efforts to mitigate serious and escalating issues related to alcohol and illegal drug use in Door County,” according to the resolution crafted, approved and forwarded to the county board by the HHS board. 

One treatment court participant resides in the county’s sober living house for women. Funded by HHS and run by CORE Treatment Services, the home is located in Sturgeon Bay and has been accepting referrals since early November 2024. With a capacity to house six women, two residents have been there for three months. 

Both residents are “currently thriving,” according to Linda Wiegand, who works as a peer support specialist, trained through the county’s Comprehensive Community Services program and employed by CORE. 

While one resident is participating in treatment court, the other was released from a corrections facility to the home, according to Wiegan. The goal is to get the residents transitioned from the sober living house to a less restrictive living situation within six months, she said, and both women are on track to do so, maintaining sobriety, securing employment and participating in community life.

The biggest obstacle the women face is finding housing, she said.

Door County already has limited affordable housing, she said, and “a drug conviction and a felony conviction can really hurt you.”

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status or disability. The federal law does not prohibit criminal background screening for housing, but the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided guidelines on how the Fair Housing Act applies to criminal background checks and housing. 

HUD guidelines dictate that landlords may not deny housing based on arrest records, administer “blanket bans” on anyone with a criminal record, or conduct indiscriminate background checks. Furthermore, being in recovery from substance use disorder is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 bans discrimination based on disability. 

While landlords can deny housing based on criminal records, they must have reliable evidence versus speculation that a recent criminal record makes the applicant a risk to other tenants, according to HUD. 

Wiegand is one of two staff members who manage Door County’s sober living house and are employed by CORE. Stephanie Short is the house manager. She used to work at the county justice center and got involved in recovery work because her stepson died as a result of substance use disorder. 

“When he was struggling, there was nothing for him in Door County,” she said. 

Adult protective services report

According to studies cited by the National Center on Elder Abuse, 1 in 10 adults over age 60 experienced some form of abuse last year. Locally, referrals went up from 124 in 2023 to 145 in 2024, according to Door County Adult Protective Services program staff in a report to the HHS board. 

The unit operates within HHS and takes all referrals for adults in the county who are victims of abuse and neglect, according to Kim Kramer, a social worker with the program. 

There are two categories of clients served, she said. Adults at risk are individuals between 18 and 59 years old who have a cognitive or physical impairment, and seniors at risk who are people 60 years old and older, Kramer explained.

The most common types of abuse the program sees are self neglect cases, she said. Individuals who are struggling to take care of themselves are also trickier to help, Kramer added, as many of them refuse services.  

“You get to make your decisions, good, bad or indifferent, barring you’re not hurting someone else or yourself,” she said. “We value that right of self determination. We get to live our lives. As an APS unit, we try to encourage people that are struggling to accept services, but people have the right to refuse our services, and often do.” 

If someone is deemed incompetent–which is a lengthy process wherein a lot of requirements and assessments must be met–then the county can step in, according to Taylor Jandrin, another social worker with the program.

Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and financial exploitation are the other forms of abuse the Door County program sees a lot of, Jandrin said. The state mandates a 24-hour follow-up to all referrals, she said, and the main goal is to stop whatever abuse is occurring. 

The Adult Protective Services unit recently moved to the same building as the Aging and Disability Resource Center, which has been a mutually beneficial situation, according to staff. 

Openings on board, staff vacancies

There is an opening on the HHS board, according to board chair Nissa Norton. Norton is also the county supervisor representing District 12 in the City of Sturgeon Bay. In order to be a board member, one must have received HHS services themselves or have a family member who has received services, Norton said, and interested parties can contact HHS Director Joe Krebsbach. 

The board also recognized two staff positions that have opened in the department. An alcohol and other drug abuse coordinator and a behavioral health coordinator position are currently vacant after staff members submitted their resignations.