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Lynnwood approves Scout social-worker contract; opioid fund fills final $42,330.50 gap
Summary
The Lynnwood City Council approved a Scout contract providing a social worker shared with Mountlake Terrace. Verdant grant funds cover $177,500; the council approved a $42,330.50 draw from local opioid settlement funds to reach the contract total of $219,830.50.
The Lynnwood City Council on March 24, 2025 approved a contract with the Snohomish County outreach team (Scout) to continue an embedded social-worker position shared between Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. Council votes established a funding split: $177,500 from a Verdant grant and $42,330.50 from the city’s opioid-settlement fund, bringing the total contract amount to $219,830.50.
Why it matters: The contract restores a half-time social-worker placement embedded in the city’s community-health section; Scout’s model places one social worker split across the two cities (two days per week in Lynnwood and two days per week in Mountlake Terrace). Council members said the position supports community health work linked to the Community Justice Center and ongoing outreach efforts.
Commander Scott Dilworth, representing city public safety/community-health coordination, told the council that Scout agreed to continue providing the social worker and that Verdant awarded $177,500 toward the 2025 contract. He said the city sought council approval for the remaining unfunded portion and for a contract that typically runs three years.
Councilmember Patrick Decker moved to draw the remaining $42,330.50 from the city’s opioid funds to cover the full contract. Decker said the opioid-fund motion “closes the gap between the contract original written amount and the amount of the contract which we approved.” The motions passed by voice vote; no councilmember voiced opposition on the record.
Councilmember Hurst asked for clarification about the amounts and whether the level of service would remain the same. Dilworth confirmed Scout provides one full-time equivalent (FTE) and that the cities split that FTE, resulting in roughly two days per week of on-site presence in Lynnwood. Mountlake Terrace is handling its separate contract portion for its share.
The council also adopted a set of unanimous-consent consent-agenda items earlier in the meeting. Those items were approved as read and included: voucher approval in the amount of $2,056,156.46 (03/03/2025–03/16/2025); payroll approval $1,753,366.97 (03/07/2025); a three-year maintenance agreement with Cornerstone Detention Products for Community Justice Center systems (funding of $253,000 for the 2025–26 biennium out of fund 105, excluding tax); an operations-and-maintenance agreement with Sound Transit for the Lynnwood City Center Station (terms not specified in transcript); final acceptance steps for the 2024 curb-ramps project (retainage release subject to state/federal agencies); and a construction contract award to Gary Harper Construction Inc. for PRV No. 2 vault improvements in an amount not to exceed $734,590.03 (tax included) with an added contingency of $99,600 for a total authorized amount of $834,190.03.
Actions recorded at the meeting show separate motions to (1) approve the portion of the Scout contract covered by Verdant grant funds ($177,500) and (2) authorize use of $42,330.50 from opioid-settlement funds to cover the remaining contract amount. Both motions passed by voice vote.
Looking ahead: Councilmembers and staff said the contract is intended to continue Scout’s embedded social-worker services for 2025; Mountlake Terrace will finalize its separate contract portion. The council did not record objections to the funding split at the March 24 meeting.
