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County awards $1 million for women's sober-living home; opioid settlement balance remains for future programs
Summary
Washington County has awarded a $1 million contract to Pathways for a Better Living to operate a women's sober-living duplex in Hartford and closed on the property Feb. 14; staff said opioid-settlement funds will cover part of the cost and that roughly $1.6 million remains in the county's opioid fund after the award.
Washington County officials told the Health & Human Services Committee that the county has awarded a contract and closed on a house to operate a women's sober-living facility and that opioid-settlement funds will provide part of the initial financing.
Julie Driscoll said the county awarded the women's sober-living contract to Pathways for a Better Living, a provider already operating treatment and sober-living facilities in the region. She said Pathways closed on a duplex in Hartford on Feb. 14 and that the property has capacity for eight women or fewer women with children. "They have a very aggressive goal to be able to take a first tenant, a resident, in mid March," Driscoll said.
On opioid-settlement funding, Driscoll reported that Washington County received about $2.6 million through 2024 and that the county has earmarked $1 million for the sober-living facility; $25,000 had been expended in 2024 for related activities. She said the county estimates remaining opioid funds of roughly $1.6 million after the sober-living award and prior expenditures, and that the county expects additional disbursements in future years though timing varies by settlement schedule.
Driscoll said staff will revisit the county's prior community needs assessment to identify other high-priority uses of the settlement funds, noting that some projects require ongoing funding and the committee and county board will need to evaluate trade-offs. She said the county's finance director and treasurer track receipt timing closely because some jurisdictions received multi-year up-front payments while others receive periodic disbursements.
Supervisors asked whether administrative or operational expectations required county-board approval; staff said the sober-living award contract had been executed and that staff would bring future spending proposals and potential board approvals to the committee. The county plans to schedule an open house for the Hartford facility and to brief the board with further recommendations during upcoming budget cycles.
