Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Greene County Sheriff’s Office has announced it is launching a new overdose response program. The Impacted Citizen's Program was developed in partnership with the Greene County Mobile Crisis Assessment Team, the Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties and the Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition. Under the new program, a member of the sheriff’s office staff will follow up on all reported overdoses in Greene County within 24-48 hours to offer access to support services such as mental health, rehabilitation or counseling for both the person that overdosed, as well as their family and friends. Other components of the program include detailed training for law enforcement and other first responders. During the recent COVID-19 lockdown, Greene and Columbia counties experienced an increased number of overdoses. In Greene County, there have been a total of 39 overdoses since March 16; three of those were fatal. During the same time period in 2019 there were 16 overdoses and three fatalities. Columbia County had 27 overdoses and three fatalities since March 16, compared to seven overdoses and two fatalities in 2019. “The Greener Pathways Program is glad to be part of the new Greene County Sheriff’s Impacted Citizen’s Program and has actively participated with many other agencies in the planning to get the program to this point,” Program Director Carl Quinn said. Greener Pathways is the Mobile Outreach Program for Twin County Recovery Services. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.