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Durham commissioners add overdose-response and recovery-housing proposals to consent agenda
Summary
Commissioner Jacobs secured board approval to add several legislative goals to the consent agenda — expanding Good Samaritan protections, requiring NARR certification for recovery housing, mandatory jail screening and treatment for opioid use disorder — and Vice Chair Burns added raising the state high-school dropout age to 18.
At the Aug. 26 meeting, commissioners voted to add a set of legislative goals to the consent agenda that included expanding Good Samaritan protections, new standards for recovery housing, and jail-based screening and treatment for people with opioid use disorder. Commissioner Jacobs described the first goal as a resubmission to the NCACC to "support legislation to expand the Good Samaritan protection of covered offensive offenses in North Carolina general statute 90 dash 96.2 C3 to include all opioid and drug offenses to encourage reporting of drug overdoses and reduce overdose deaths."
Jacobs said the package would also seek legislation "that requires all recovery housing to be National Alliance for Recovery Residents (NARR) certified to address unethical and illegal practices in recovery housing" and to require jail facilities to assess inmates for substance use and provide medication-based treatment and follow-up care coordination. After discussion, the board approved adding those goals to the consent agenda.
Vice Chair Burns also requested re-raising a prior goal to increase North Carolina's high-school dropout age from 16 to 18; Burns said the measure had bipartisan support and moved forward the language for submission. Commissioner Carter moved to add the legislative goals to the consent agenda; Commissioner Jacobs seconded and the board voted in favor.
