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Bangor advisory committee prioritizes urgent HIV case management, plans recommendation for opioid-settlement spending
Summary
Members of Bangor City's Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Committee agreed to prioritize funding for intensive case management tied to a local HIV outbreak and asked city staff to return financial figures and a draft recommendation before the next meeting.
The Opioid Settlement Funds Advisory Committee on Wednesday moved to prioritize urgent public-health spending after committee members described a recent local HIV outbreak and the loss of federal case-management resources.
Jamie (committee member) and other members described a cluster of newly reported HIV cases in the Bangor area involving people who have experienced homelessness and who lack access to intensive case management. "We are housing one individual right now that has never been housed, requires a tremendous amount of our attention," a committee member said, describing the intensity of the support required. Committee members said federal grants and local programs that previously provided case management have been reduced or closed, leaving immediate service gaps.
Committee members discussed several short- and long-term options for distributing the city's opioid settlement dollars. The committee reviewed Schedule B of the State of Maine memorandum of understanding (the allowed uses for settlement funds) and Subchak reiterated that at least 85% of funds must be used for approved purposes in the MOU; up to 15% may be used for other activities with additional reporting. The committee debated balancing immediate, targeted spending to sustain current public-health services with longer-term investments and competitive request-for-proposal (RFP) rounds for recovery, prevention and treatment programs.
Several proposals were raised at the meeting: a short-term recovery housing scholarship fund to help people secure beds in recovery homes; an overdose-prevention center plan that would likely require an RFP; expanded prevention and outreach targeting older adults and school-based programs; and an intensive case-management program focused on people who are homeless and have substance-use and HIV comorbidities.
A working proposal gained early consensus among members: direct, near-term funding for intensive case management and related public-health supports. Committee members asked city staff to provide a clearer financial picture before the next meeting, including the cash already in the city's settlement account and annualized amounts available going forward. Committee members volunteered to draft a short recommendation for the city council: "I'm happy to put together a brief outline ... to then turn over to the committee then to turn over to the city to be wordsmith," one member said. The committee asked that a draft be circulated in the week before the next meeting and that public-health staff supply an estimated annual cost per caseworker.
No formal vote was taken at the meeting; the committee instructed staff and volunteers to prepare a written recommendation and financial detail for consideration at the next meeting.
