(The Center Square) – As the fight against homelessness, open-air drug use and crime continues, Spokane County is propping up a sobering center and other resources, with some construction slated for this fall.
The Sobering & Triage Center is one of four priorities that the Board of County Commissioners identified and approved in May. The investments utilize opioid settlement funds, which the county and others received for holding pharmaceutical manufacturers accountable in court.
Justin Johnson, director of the county’s Community Services Department, updated the commissioners on the status of the investments on Tuesday; he recommended that the county proceed with CSD’s suggested applicants if they intend to begin providing services this fall.
The county sent out two Requests for Proposals in May, soliciting providers for the sobering center and a housing support project for parents of children with neonatal alcohol syndrome.
Each RFP only brought in one applicant, but if approved in the coming weeks, the two providers could begin offering services at existing facilities while beginning new construction this fall.
Commissioner Al French questioned why the RFPs only solicited one response each despite the topics posing a regional importance. Johnson pointed out that the county’s RFPs went out at a similar time as the Department of Commerce grants, which exacerbated everyone's workload.
Spokane Treatment & Recovery Services, or STARS, was the only applicant for the Sobering & Triage Center RFP and, without any other options, will likely serve as the provider. STARS would be responsible for operating the center 24/7, allowing patients to stay for up to 23-hours and 59-minutes each day, discharging them as soon as they are “functionally sober,” according to the RFP packet.
Johnson said STARS already has a facility for sobering, so if approved, it could use the allocated $1.2 million for ongoing operations instead of construction; the county could then devote the leftover funds to expanding the facility or another related project.
“Speaking to the Valley as well as the city, they already have agreements with STARS to have a vehicle run to pick up and drop off between facilities,” Johnson said, “and the city has already put money toward supporting this.”
Maddie’s Place, an infant withdrawal recovery center, was the only applicant for the Housing Support for Parents and Caregivers of Babies with Neonatal Alcohol Syndrome RFP. If approved, the provider would offer stable housing and support services to “break generational patterns of substance impact,” according to the RFP packet.
The project utilizes $600,000 of the settlement funds for construction while relying on state and federal grants, Section 8 Housing Vouchers, and other options for ongoing sustainability. However, similar to STARS, Maddie’s Place already offers these services, so that money could go toward daily operations or expanding their current service to meet a greater demand.
“In fact, because we’re looking at an alignment with other fund sources, it provides the other unique problem,” Johnson said. “Where other avenues have received shortages of funds, we actually have additional ones.”
The commissioners are anticipated to approve the two providers in an upcoming Board of County Commissioners legislative session.
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