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Maddie's Place seeks expanded opioid‑settlement support as Spokane agencies plan coordinated investments
Summary
Maddie's Place, a pediatric transitional care facility for infants born substance‑exposed, briefed the council on patient volume, outcomes and a request for joint city‑county opioid‑settlement funding to sustain expansion; city staff outlined complementary proposals for navigation, mobile treatment and stabilization bed support.
Representatives of Maddie's Place told the Spokane council that the pediatric transitional care facility is treating a rising number of infants born exposed to substances and seeks a joint city‑county investment to sustain expansion and operations.
"We're seeing... Spokane is an incredible hot spot for what's happening nationally," Sean Cross of Maddie's Place told council members, describing the program as one of only a few such pediatric transitional care facilities in the United States.
Why it matters: Maddie's Place provides hands‑on care for infants experiencing withdrawal and supports parents who room in during treatment. Cross said the program has treated 136 infants to date and that the average length of stay is about 60 days. Of 91 parents who roomed in, 87 remained in recovery and retained custody of the child — outcomes Maddie's Place framed as evidence of the program’s impact.
Cross described the program’s funding landscape: Maddie's Place reported roughly $15 million raised since 2020 — a mix of state appropriations and private donations — and said it would benefit from more stable reimbursement. He cited Ohio’s bundled per‑diem reimbursement model as a template and said a per‑diem that bundles infant and dyad care (infant plus parent) could be financially sustainable compared with neonatal intensive care costs.
City staff described additional opioid‑related proposals on the council agenda, including joint interlocal agreements to bridge funding for Maddie's Place, capital support for mobile opioid use disorder treatment, and investments to coordinate street‑to‑care navigation. Staff said previous opioid‑abatement investments funded expanded CARES clinicians, high‑utilizer complex care initiatives and a provider embedded with homeless outreach; the proposed next steps include an ILA for bridge funding and an RFP for mobile OUD treatment.
Financial ask and next steps: Maddie's Place said its operating budget is about $4.2 million per year and that the program had funding to sustain operations through about summer of next year without additional commitments. Staff indicated a proposed joint city‑county allocation of approximately $2.1 million to support Maddie's Place expansion (subject to final council approval and ILA terms) and said city and county staff are coordinating proposed investments across stabilization, navigation and treatment capacity.
Council members asked for a clearer long‑range plan showing how opioid‑abatement dollars would be spent and requested a forward look at projected receipts and commitments. No final funding decision was made at the meeting; staff said implementation items are scheduled for upcoming council action and that further detail would be supplied in subsequent materials.
