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Huber Heights council hears Dayton Children’s plan to use opioid settlement funds for EMDR trauma therapy for youth
Summary
Dayton Children’s proposed using allowable opioid settlement money to subsidize EMDR trauma therapy for Huber Heights children (ages 6–18). Council discussion covered eligibility, prioritizing Huber residents, outreach to schools and foster agencies, and a potential resolution on the Monday agenda.
Dayton Children’s outpatient mental health staff outlined a plan to use opioid settlement funds to expand access to EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapy for children in Huber Heights.
“My name is Jeremy Heerwith. I’m the director at Dayton Children’s for outpatient mental health services,” Jeremy Heerwith told the council and outlined the program’s purpose and scope. He said EMDR targets traumatic memories and can shorten the time to clinical improvement compared with longer courses of talk therapy. He described the Huber Heights office capacity (16 master’s-level therapists there now) and a persistent wait list: “we have a wait list of over 600 patients at any given point in time,” Heerwith said, underscoring local demand.
Melissa Hastings, a community liaison for Dayton Children’s, said the hospital will streamline referrals and community education. “Our goal is to make the referral process as easy as possible for families,” Hastings said, describing in-school outreach and an online intake form to funnel eligible Huber Heights families into the program.
City staff and presenters said the proposed funding use is permitted under the city’s opioid settlement fund rules and would function as a pass-through: the city would allocate dollars to pay a portion of participating clinicians’ salaries so Huber residents receive prioritized appointment access. City staff said the program design spreads funding across two or three clinicians to build redundancy, with the city’s opioid fund (roughly $55,000 per year in current revenue plus reserves) supplemented by potential regional grants.
Council members asked about age eligibility and local prioritization. Heerwith said the program would treat children roughly ages 6–18 (with transition plans for older teens) and that funding would cover portions of clinicians’ full-time equivalents so Huber residents would be prioritized for scheduling. Councilwoman Anita Kitchen said she will recuse from the vote because her organization provides mental-health services in partnership with children.
City staff said a partnership agreement — approved by legal — and a joint press release with Dayton Children’s would follow if council approves the resolution at the next meeting. The council did not take a final vote during the work session; staff indicated the item is scheduled for the Monday agenda.
