Recovery advocates urge Washington County to direct opioid settlement funds to county drug-and-alcohol authority

Several residents and program participants told the Washington County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 6 that opioid settlement funds should be awarded to the Washington County Drug and Alcohol Commission, which coordinates treatment and recovery services in the county.

"We have been consistently overlooked for funding, leaving many critical services completely unfunded," Cheryl Andrews, executive director of the Washington County Drug and Alcohol Commission, told the board. She said WDAC applied twice for opioid-settlement funds to cover rising treatment costs and was denied, and that she was later told by the human services administrator not to apply for future funds because WDAC "already receives too much of the taxpayer dollars" and the office "can't see a return on investment." Andrews said those decisions have left programs underfunded and have sometimes led the county to fund new positions that duplicate services WDAC already provides.

Speakers who described themselves as clients of WDAC told personal recovery stories and attributed their stability to programs coordinated by the commission. "In the last 2 years, I have improved my relationship with my children ... I'm not on any type of public assistance at all, and I'm doing this because of the support that Washington County Drug And Alcohol has given me," said Adele Kikelo, a participant in the county treatment program. Chad Seaborg, who said he had 504 days clean, credited WDAC and drug court with providing structure that supported his recovery. John Liggett said WDAC helped him secure housing and employment and that he now plans to provide affordable housing for people in recovery.

Commissioners acknowledged the speakers and described constraints on county budgeting. One commissioner said a large share of the county budget is state passthrough money and that, without a state budget, the county cannot cover programs the state would normally fund without jeopardizing county finances. "When we don't have a state budget, the county is handcuffed," a commissioner said. Commissioners repeatedly invited WDAC leadership to meet and discuss allocation requests and said a separate, future decision could consider whether WDAC should be moved under the county's human services department; no on-the-spot funding change was made at the Nov. 6 meeting.

The public comments session included repeated appeals for opioid settlement funds to be used to sustain and expand WDAC's programs. Commissioners said the subject remains under discussion and that additional meetings or a formal request process could be scheduled to review how any settlement funds are distributed.