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Supervisors renew opioid-settlement allocation, county highlights Oxford House opening and peer-support contract
Summary
County supervisors authorized an $80,000 allocation of opioid settlement funds for reentry services, renewed a peer-support contract for the Article 31 clinic, and heard that a peer-led Oxford House opened in November with a coordinator funded by opioid settlement dollars.
The Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 14 approved renewing an $80,000 allocation of opioid settlement funds to Reentry of Columbia to support workforce expansion, including one additional case manager.
The committee also approved a contract renewal with People USA, a peer-based organization that provides a certified peer specialist for the county’s Article 31 clinic. County staff described the peer specialist as a person who uses lived experience to build engagement and trust with clients in ways that licensed clinical staff typically do not.
County officials reported that an Oxford House peer-led recovery residence opened in Columbia County on Nov. 1. The house has room for eight residents plus a coordinator; the county is funding a coordinator position (named in discussion as Jamontae Johnson) who helps identify and furnish a house, orient occupants to the Oxford House model, and coordinate referrals. County staff said occupancy is up, and that Oxford House residents contribute to operating costs and are expected to remain abstinent; residents who relapse are asked to leave and may be considered for reentry if they follow recommended treatment.
The committee heard an update from behavioral-health leadership that the county is ending a virtual-provider contract (Inovital) and will hire a psychiatric nurse practitioner under a civil-service title to staff the clinic, which staff said will save money and bring the position into civil-service employment.
Why this matters: the actions maintain county support for reentry and recovery services, expand peer-based services at the Article 31 clinic, and use opioid-settlement dollars to seed local recovery housing and a coordinator role.
Formal actions recorded at the meeting include the $80,000 opioid-settlement allocation renewal, renewal of a contract with Repeat Business Systems (administrative renewal noted), and renewal of the People USA contract; motions were moved, seconded and carried.
