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Ulster County moves to access state overdose data and funds recovery housing, using opioid settlement dollars
Summary
The committee approved a five-year data-use agreement with New York State Department of Health for overdose data and adopted contracts to fund peer-run Oxford House recovery homes and supported housing services, financed by opioid settlement and state aid.
Ulster County's Health, Human Services & Human Rights Committee on June 5 voted to sign a five-year data use agreement with the New York State Department of Health to access state overdose data and approved contracts to expand recovery and supported housing.
Commissioner McDonald, Department of Mental Health, told the committee the state DOH database will provide more accurate county-level overdose information at no cost. "We're looking for the term to be 5 years," McDonald said. She said county and state trends show improvement: "overdoses are down 31.5 percent and fatalities from overdoses are down 63 percent," figures McDonald said the county will use to evaluate programs and target resources.
Also adopted was a $225,000 contract with Oxford House to set up two peer-run recovery houses in Ulster County. McDonald said the county will use opioid settlement funds for the award and that Oxford House typically seeks larger shared houses, "at the very minimum 8 bedrooms," and handles site selection and house operations independently. The county's contract will finance a housing specialist to do site selection, ramp-up work and furnish houses; the houses will be rented and run by residents under the Oxford House peer model.
The committee also approved a $76,800 contract amendment with Rehabilitation Support Services (RSS) for supported housing funded by state aid. McDonald described those funds as state aid adjustments allocated to supported housing providers.
Committee members asked about timelines and oversight. McDonald said the Oxford House award came from an RFP and that vendor fieldwork and a behavioral health needs assessment will guide placement decisions; she said vendor site visits and "ride alongs" with law enforcement are scheduled for August and the needs-assessment report is expected in the fall. She added that recommendations will be for the community and that local officials will decide how and when to act on them.
The data-use agreement, Oxford House contract and RSS amendment were adopted by committee vote.
