Yamhill County seeks to expand transitional recovery homes, eyes $250,000 buy-in for out-of-county beds

Yamhill County’s Health & Human Services director, Lindsey Manfren, told commissioners June 11 that the county could use opioid settlement funds to expand local transitional recovery housing and to secure guaranteed beds at a regional recovery campus.

Manfren proposed two options: add a TTRS house dedicated to men without children to provide intensive, home-based level-2.5 care; and purchase access through a proposed Clackamas County memorandum of understanding that would reserve one detox bed and one residential bed for Yamhill County in exchange for a one-time $250,000 payment. "These do have some pretty, heavy restrictions on them, largely just related to prevention, treatment, and recovery of opioid use disorder," Manfren said of the settlement dollars.

Why it matters: county staff reported about $2.1 million currently available in the opioid settlement fund, with roughly another half-million potentially incoming next year. Manfren said the county’s assessment shows 82 residents at any given month would be clinically eligible for this level of care and that a five-bed TTRS house could likely sustain operations through Medicaid billing.

Details and debate: Manfren described TTRS homes as county-operated houses where residents receive outpatient treatment at the clinic but live in a shared home with daily peer support and staff-led skill-building. She estimated annual operating costs around $239,200, driven largely by staffing, and said modeling at a 61% occupancy rate suggests Medicaid revenue could cover those operating costs. "The anticipated revenue is slightly higher than our anticipated cost, meaning this program would be able to self sustain on its own," she told the board.

Capital remains the hurdle: Manfren said settlement funds would likely be needed to buy or renovate a house; she put an $850,000 figure on the slide as a bookmark while noting she had found an online listing at roughly $575,000 that might work with minimal renovation. Commissioners asked whether a county-owned property could be repurposed and about staffing and credentialing; Manfren said one additional FTE would be required and that Medicaid billing would cover the position in the program model presented.

Regional buy-in option: regarding the Clackamas County recovery campus, Manfren summarized a memo that would let Yamhill County pay a one-time $250,000 to guarantee access to the two beds. "That would be a one-time cost of $250,000," she said, adding that any IGA would come back to the board for review before a final commitment.

Next steps: county finance staff said the funding level under consideration—roughly $1.1 million if the board moved forward with both recommendations—would use about half of the county’s current opioid settlement balance, leaving funds for other priorities and to meet settlement timing requirements. Commissioners signaled informal consensus to pursue the recommendations; any purchase, renovation or IGA would return to the board for formal approval.

What remains unresolved: there is no draft IGA in the record yet for the Clackamas proposal, and specifics about property selection, renovation scope and a final capital price are not decided. Manfren said staff will return with contract documents and specific project budgets for board approval.