Spokane County cites sobering-center expansion, $600,000 for Maddie's Place as part of opioid response

Spokane County officials and program participants on the county's response to opioid and substance-use challenges said 2025 has brought program expansions and new funding that aim to increase same-day and walk-in behavioral health services.

"2025 marks some significant successes in Spokane County's comprehensive response to the opioid and substance use epidemic impacting our community," Speaker 2 (County staff) said, describing an expansion of a Crisis Relief and Sobering Center and selection of Pioneer Human Services to operate the facility.

County presenters said the new facility type will provide same-day and walk-in availability for behavioral health services and expand local bed availability. The county also described an expanded Sobering Triage and Transition program operated in partnership with Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services (STARS), which staff said is intended to provide a therapeutic path from sobering to withdrawal management and into longer-term residential programs such as Karen's House and Cub House.

The meeting included personal testimony from people who said they had used county-supported services. "I've been in my addiction for almost 3 decades. My life was in chaos. I had no hope," Speaker 1 (Resident, recovery program participant) said, later adding that the program helped them "walk with my head high." A former client also said they later returned to work at Maddie's Place and described the staff as "life changing."

Program outcomes cited by county staff included that 80 percent of individuals who received the described treatment services transitioned into longer-term care and that recidivism was reported as less than 12 percent. The county also said it has expanded services focused on infants affected by substance exposure and on supporting parents to keep families together.

County support for Maddie's Place was described in more detail: speakers said Spokane County contracted for services with Maddie's Place in October 2023 and that the county prioritized the program for opioid-settlement abatement funding, providing $600,000 in September 2024. According to the presentation, those funds helped the program stay open and enabled it to acquire an adjacent acre for potential future uses including housing, day care and primary care.

No formal motions or votes were recorded in the transcript segment; the remarks were presented as program updates and public testimony. County staff concluded by thanking community partners, regional hospitals, local municipalities including the City of Spokane and the City of Spokane Valley, and state and congressional representatives for their roles in supporting the county's efforts.

Details that were reported during the meeting, such as the $600,000 allocation and the October 2023 contract date, were described by speakers during the remarks and appear in the transcript. The transcript did not record any ordinance, statute citation, or a formal board vote on the items described.