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Clinicians and recovery advocates urge funds for direct patient care, transportation and housing
Summary
Local clinicians and recovery advocates told the committee they want settlement dollars to pay for direct treatment supports: patient transportation, short-term housing and coverage for expensive long-acting medications to prevent treatment gaps.
Several clinicians and recovery advocates urged the committee to prioritize programs that provide direct care and immediate supports rather than primarily funding education or administrative overhead.
"I'd love to see a fund to at least get them two more months of the injectable to maybe stretch it out so that they can have a softer landing," said Michael (speaker S3), describing how patients can lose primary-care coverage and then abruptly lose access to costly extended-release buprenorphine shots. He and others also stressed transportation barriers: people often cannot reliably get to treatment unless rides or vouchers are provided.
Recovery coaches, peer support specialists and one-stop case management also featured in the discussion. Committee members described programs that place recovery coaches in schools and emergency departments and said an LOI/RFP could encourage applications for peer-support programs, sober housing that accepts medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and pilot transportation arrangements with local ride services.
