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Pierce County approves $3.2 million for mobile opioid treatment to serve rural areas
Summary
The council approved spending of opioid settlement and federal COSEP funds to contract Pierce County Alliance to run up to two mobile opioid treatment programs serving rural and suburban parts of Pierce County. The resolution authorizes up to approximately $3.2 million through Sept. 30, 2027.
The Pierce County Council on Sept. 23 approved a resolution to spend opioid settlement dollars and a federal grant to fund mobile opioid treatment programs serving underserved rural and suburban areas.
Council staff told the body that the county had previously adopted ordinances establishing an opioid settlement fund and appropriated $2 million for mobile treatment. An additional federal grant from the Department of Justice (COSEP) brought the RFP pool to a little over $3.2 million. Human Services ran an RFP and an application evaluation committee — including subject matter experts and people with lived experience — recommended full funding to the highest-scoring applicant, Pierce County Alliance.
Staff described the program as purchasing vehicles, staffing and operations to deliver medication-assisted treatment and related behavioral-health services through Sept. 30, 2027. Behavioral-health manager Margo Burnison clarified that the program is not a safe-consumption site or a syringe-exchange program; it is intended to bring medication-assisted treatment and wraparound behavioral services to residents who otherwise must travel to Tacoma.
Council members asked how vehicles will be owned and operated; staff said vehicles will be owned by the contracted agency and subject to contract restrictions (e.g., resale limitations). The council approved the resolution on a 7-0 vote.
What happens next: The Human Services Department will contract with Pierce County Alliance and begin program implementation and deployment of mobile units to targeted communities, including East Pierce County and the Key Peninsula.
