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Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX-36) issued the following statement today about the meeting his office organized earlier this week regarding the opioid crisis in the Southeast Texas Region.

“This week, we gathered key stakeholders in the Southeast Texas Region to discuss the importance of working collaboratively to develop strategies to reduce the opioid crisis in our region. We had a panel of experts that discussed current resources as well as gaps from the national, state, and local grassroots perspective. Among the wide variety of participants were representatives from those involved in treatment, education, law enforcement, healthcare, recovery and prevention. There are varying needs and approaches to prevention, treatment and interdiction across our large state and communities large and small.”

 “In addition to sharing ideas and approaches we also identified the need to enhance the collection of accurate data collection as Texas and our communities compete for funding. Meeting participants were given an opportunity to express their concerns and share their willingness to be involved in the future working groups to address this growing need. This was an important first step in informing stakeholders, identifying challenges and introducing to one another those who are engaged in addressing various aspects of the opioid crisis. Working together we hope to foster a greater collaboration on successful strategies to combat this growing crisis.”

 “I want to thank my staff and all of the participants for what they did to make this meeting successful. And, I offer a special thanks to Associate Commissioner for Behavior Health and IDD Services, Sonja Gaines, who serves with Texas Health and Human Services Commission and traveled from Austin to the meeting this week to listen to and offer her assistance to our community.”