Safe Use and Overdose Prevention Program (SUOPP)

Program Description

On September 24, 2024, the County of Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors approved the recommendation to rename the Syringe Services Program (SSP) to Safe Use and Overdose Prevention Program. The program name "Safe Use and Overdose Prevention Program (SUOPP)" was positively endorsed by many program participants, program staff, and the community. 

Review item 38, Syringe Services Program updates for the Board of Supervisors Regular Agenda for September 24, 2024.

Download the Agenda Item Board Memo

The initiative to rename the Syringe Services Program was driven by the need to highlight the program’s wide array of services that extend beyond syringe exchange services.  Our dedicated teams work closely with community partners to prevent and reduce the harms associated with drug use by: 

• Providing harm reduction supplies
• Supporting syringe clean-up initiatives
• Connecting participants to substance use treatment services
• Referrals to integrated behavioral health
• Connecting participants to critical medical care (vaccinations, wound treatment, sexual health, and more) 
• Educational resources to help improve the health and well-being of our program participants
• View a detailed program description
• SSP Policy & Procedures
• Summary Points
• SSP Advisory Commission Program Updates:
  • February 15, 2022 - DRAFT presentation to Board of Supervisors
  • February 8, 2022 - SSP Program Update

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

In the interest of transparency and full disclosure regarding HSA’s Syringe Exchange Program, the Public Health Department has put together these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

• Click here to view Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Data, Reports & Updates

Click here to send comments about these reports

• SSP Safer Smoking Supplies and Referrals -Presentation by HSA Director Mónica Morales and County Public Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez. 04/15/2024
• SSP Hybrid Model Pilot Update-August 2024
• SSP Hybrid Model Pilot Update-March 2024
• City of Santa Cruz Syringe Collection Dashboard
• Needles Found per County Departments
• 2015-16 Reports: Needles In/Needles Out   Visits by Site and Month
• Biennial Reports: 2023   2021   2019   2017   2015
• Syringe Services Program Annual Report 2014
• Syringe Services Program Progress Report (Dec. 2013)
• Syringe Services Program 90-Day Report (4/30/13 - 7/31/13)
• California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH) Launches Syringe Certification Program - 12/2/13 announcement letter

Advisory Commission Meetings

2023 Meeting Calendar

Notice:

Effective March 31, 2024, Santa Cruz County Code Chapter 2.125 has been repealed and the Syringe Services Program Advisory Commission has been dissolved. No further commission meetings will be held. For information regarding the Syringe Services Program, please visit Syringe Services Program (santacruzhealth.org).

This website has been preserved for informational purposes only and will be available through October 1, 2024. To request any available records, please submit a request via NextRequest or by contacting Socorro Gutierrez at Socorro.Gutierrez@santacruzcountyca.gov.

For questions about Santa Cruz County Commissions, Committees or Advisory Bodies, please email the Clerk of the Board by emailing CommissionsSCC@santacruzcountyca.gov or by dialing (831-454-2323).

• Tuesday, February 13, 2024 
   Agenda Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, January 9, 2024 - Canceled
   Meeting Canceled
• Tuesday, November 14, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, October 10, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, September 12, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, August 8, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting (this video is audio only, we had a technical issue with the video portion)
• There was no July 2023 Meeting.
• Tuesday, June 13, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, May 9, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, April 11, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
• Tuesday, March 14, 2023
  Agenda  Video of Meeting
  • SSP Purposes and Recommendations: Resource Planner Presentation
  • SSP Advisory Commission Program Updates
• Tuesday, February 14, 2023
  Agenda  Minutes  Video of Meeting
  • SSP Program Model Strengths and Weaknesses
  • SSP Advisory Commission Program Updates
• Tuesday, January 10, 2023
  Agenda  Minutes  Video of Meeting

Information Resources

• Fentanyl Fact Sheet
• Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opiod Overdose: What's Working in the United States
• Janus Opens South County Clinic for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
• Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) Developing, Implementing, and Monitoring Programs
• Syringe Services Program (SSP) Development and Implementation Guidelines for State and Local Health Departments (2012)
• A comparison of syringe disposal practices among injection drug users in a city with versus a city without needle and syringe programs
• California Dept of Public Health, Office of AIDS, Access to Sterile Syringes
• Congress Ends Ban On Federal Funding For Needle Exchange Programs
• ISSUE BRIEF: SMOKING SUPPLIES FOR HARM REDUCTION
• Harm Reduction Coalition
• Policy Brief on: Needle Exchange
• Recommended Best Practices for Effective Syringe Exchange Programs
• RecoveryWave.org - a comprehensive resource of substance abuse recovery services within Santa Cruz County.

Other Information/Web Links

• How to Stay Safer with Xylazine
  Xylazine, also known as Tranq, is not an opiod. Tranq is a veterinary sedative recently found in the U.S. drug supply.
  Click here to learn more about Xylazine: English  Spanish
• Fighting Opioid Addiction is Personal - Personal story about Opioid addiction
   
• HIV and Injection Drug Use: Syringe Services Programs for HIV Prevention
• Gov. Brown Signs Landmark Syringe Access Reform
• Pharmacies that sell non-prescription syringes
• Previous SSP Policy & Procedures- Previous SSP Policy & Procedures/Effective pre 9/15/14
• Police Forum Report Says Syringe Exchange Encourages Drug Treatment, Lowers Injury and Disease - Huffington Post Blog
• "Administering Naloxone” equips public health agencies, community organizations, friends, family members and others with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent opioid-related deaths by using naloxone, a drug that can reverse an overdose. The 11 minute training video includes a six point checklist on how to recognize when a person is overdosing and demonstrates how to dispense naloxone and provide post-overdose care.
  

In the News

• Reducing Harms from Injection Drug Use & Opioid Use Disorder with Syringe Services Programs
• INDIANA HEALTH COMMISSIONER: State syringe program saves lives, money

*A Project of Community Health and Prevention Programs
(Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency)