In The News - 5/8/2024
The Spokesman-Review
Spokane County announces plans for initial $7.2 million in opioid settlement disbursements
Spokane County is poised to pour $5.2 million into hands-on medical treatment to detox and treat drug addicts as elected officials try to slow the deepening fentanyl crisis.
The treatment spending, approved by Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday, accounts for most of the $7.2 million made available from initial disbursements of money won from state lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
“I think that we all know that this epidemic has caused so much damage in our community and all over the nation,” Commissioner Chris Jordan said ahead of the vote. “The scale of pain for families of victims is immense. The settlement dollars, I believe, are our chance to bring some solutions to the table to promote public health and safety here in Spokane County.”
Spokane County has identified four areas of investment for the initial settlement disbursements, which are all intended to fill existing gaps in the regional treatment network, community services director Justin Johnson said.
“We looked at all of these areas, medium treatment, long-term treatment, comprehensive engagement, gap areas and supportive housing,” Johnson said. “The county has looked at a wide swath of areas that hit everything that the community is looking for, but more effectively addresses areas where the largest gaps are, where insurance or other providers are not covering.”
The county commissioners have agreed to put the $5.2 million toward a proposed expansion of services at the Spokane Regional Stabilization Center; $1.2 million toward the more immediate expansion of services provided by community partners; $600,000 toward housing and treatment support for parents of infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome; and $200,000 to improve overdose and substance use data.
Having access to secure housing while receiving treatment is one of the challenges parents struggling with addiction face after having a child, he said.
There are facilities in the area like Maddie’s Place that provide care for infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, and help parents receive treatment themselves, but those families often go back to environments where they can slip back into old habits.
The Center Square
Spokane may spend $3 million to move homeless shelter less than a mile
(Ed. note: this headline is misleading. It refers to a “discussion” - not a motion or a vote - surrounding what to do once the House of Charity closes. Moving to the Carlyle Hotel was just part of that discussion)
The Spokane City Council is contemplating spending millions from its American Rescue Plan Act fund to relocate the House of Charity in downtown to another site several blocks away.
Though supporters of the proposal see it as a way to decentralize the homeless population currently clustered around several charity programs, critics argue it won’t accomplish its objective.
“If the point of moving the House of Charity was to get it outside of downtown and to help clean up that area, I don’t think we’re accomplishing that by moving this here,” Councilmember Jonathan Bingle told colleagues at Monday's meeting. “That’s my struggle in all of this.”
The House of Charity is owned and operated by the Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington. It provides lunch and dinner meals, as well as a men's indoor sleeping program.
In an email to The Center Square, Catholic Charities said it was looking for a new location for the House of Charity in partnership with the city, but hasn't found a location yet.
"Our priority remains providing the best possible services to those in need and we look forward to collaborating with the City and other partners on how we can enhance community supports," the email said.
At Monday's city council’s meeting, discussions revolved around the notion of closing the House of Charity and relocating homeless to the former Carlyle Hotel on South Post Street, less than a mile away. The homeless would be provided full-time temporary housing in a manner similar to the Catholic Charities The Catalyst located on West Sunset Boulevard, which is described as an “emergency supportive housing program.”