Newly released data shows a decrease in the number of overdoses across Broome County in 2025.
Members of the Broome County Health Department Overdose Prevention Program were joined by Broome County Executive Jason Garnar and other local leaders to announce a decrease in nonfatal and fatal overdoses in 2025 and the next round of Request for Proposals for Opioid Settlement Funding, money secured by the New York State Attorney General’s Office in 2019 from pharmacies and companies involved in the opioid epidemic.
At a press conference, Garnar presented the number of suspected fatal and non-fatal overdoses beginning in 2016 and ending in the most recent data from 2025. The chart showed that suspected fatal overdoses in Broome County decreased by 43% from 49 in 2024 to 28 in 2025. Non-fatal overdoses also decreased 29% compared to the previous year.
“I’m proud of the progress that we’ve made, but we remain fully committed to continuing this fight because every fight matters and our community is stronger when we work together,” Garnar said.
What Opioid Settlement Funding has been used for by Broome
In 2023, seven agencies in Broome County were selected to implement their proposed projects to help prevent overdoses with money from the Opioid Settlement Funding. By the end of the year, $189,392.58 had been awarded, according to the Broome County website.
A second round of requests for proposals was announced in 2024 and three additional agencies were awarded funding. By May 1, 2025, the Broome County Health Department had awarded nearly $2 million for various projects to help strengthen integrated care including prevention, treatment, harm reduction and mental health support as well as stigma reduction and education.
Some initiatives included a jail discharge planner, direct services which link people to care, housing needs and prevention projects such as school programs, peer services and professional development.
Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar said as a recipient of the funding, the first step the Broome County Sheriff’s Office took was to “take back discharge planning.”
Forensic Services Program Coordinator Hannah Driskell is in charge of distributing sheriff IDs, Department of Social Services applications, health insurance, and scheduling substance use treatment appointments, mental health and primary care doctors appointments for inmates prior to their release. Every person who leaves the facility also leaves with Narcan, according to Akshar.
Broome County District Attorney Paul Battisti also spoke about a $300,000 grant his office received from the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services to hire a designated community overdose investigator.
Battisti said his office resurrected forfeiture accounts which take the money held by drug dealers who are arrested in the county and give 40% of it to the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports. The rest is given back to the district attorney’s office and the county.
In 2026, Battisti said Broome County will begin operating a mental health treatment court, a way of connecting people within the justice system who struggle with addiction and mental illness to court-supervised services.
“Now there’s actually going to be a diversionary program to get individuals the help they need so they can once again become who they want to be,” he said.
What’s next for new round of funding
The Overdose Prevention Program Director at the Broome County Health Department, Marissa Knapp, said with this new round of funding, the program is looking for “creative, innovative projects to meet people where they’re at.”
The Request for Proposals is currently live and can be found at the Broome Overdose Action Collaborative on the Broome County website.
All applications are due March 16, according to Knapp. Once awarded, the anticipated project period will begin June 1 and will run through May 1, 2028.
Since the funds first became available in 2023, Knapp said both suspected fatal overdoses and non-fatal overdoses have decreased in Broome County by 57%.
“While these numbers have significantly improved, we still have a great deal of work to do,” she said. “Every single one of these lives had value. They were mothers and fathers, our children, our friends, our coworkers and neighbors, some who I personally knew and loved, who inspire me to keep doing this work every day. Someday, I believe we can end overdose.”
Any questions and applications can be sent to Overdoseprevention@broomecountyny.gov.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: New data shows overdoses fell sharply across Broome County in 2025
Reporting by Jillian McCarthy, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
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