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Commissioners hear update on opioid programs, jail cohort hurdles and EMS naloxone rollout
Summary
Commissioners discussed local efforts to join a state cohort for an innovative justice program, described the Nisqually tribal jail’s recent participation, and received updates on EMS 'leave behind' naloxone distribution and state cuts to opioid programs.
At the June 10 meeting, commissioners reported on several overlapping opioid‑response efforts: the county’s attempt to join a phased state program for justice‑involved care, the Nisqually tribal jail’s successful enrollment, and recent changes to fentanyl/overdose response programs operated by emergency medical services.
A commissioner said the Nisqually tribal jail was able to meet program requirements and has staff and coordinators in place to ensure warm handoffs to service providers. Thurston County staff and commissioners said they had worked for months to qualify but encountered compliance hurdles that prevented the county jail from joining the same cohort.
County officials said they had emailed the state Health Care Authority (HCA) to ask whether Thurston County could still be admitted to a later cohort; the county’s application window originally had an intention deadline of May 1, the report said.
Separately, commissioners discussed EMS overdose response programs. The board heard that an EMS naloxone (Narcan) leave‑behind program has been implemented in participating jurisdictions and that Thurston County paramedics and partners are expanding aftercare and handoff coordination with a contracted social‑service provider, identified in the meeting as Catholic Community Services. Meeting remarks showed confusion among participants about whether a field 'leave‑behind' Suboxone practice had been adopted; commissioners asked staff to have health‑program leads (Pamela Todd and Ben Miller‑Todd were named in the meeting) clarify operational details.
Commissioners also reported an update from an Opioid Abatement Council meeting: the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program faces a reported 10% state funding cut, the recovery navigator program a reported 20% cut, and naloxone distribution funding at the state level has experienced a substantial reduction that will affect nonprofit baseline distribution (law enforcement naloxone funding is reported as intact). Meeting participants warned that federal funding variability could drive greater reliance on state and local funding or opioid settlement dollars for capacity shortfalls.
No formal county vote was recorded on these items; commissioners treated them as informational updates and staff follow‑ups were discussed.
