By Sephora Charles
Delray Beach commissioners plan to invest nearly $396,000 in state opioid settlement funds toward housing, job assistance and a new mobile health unit designed to connect residents with support services.
The city is receiving the money from annual distributions from a statewide opioid litigation settlement, established to address the effects of the opioid epidemic. The suits concerned the overdoses, addictions and deaths linked to manufacturing, distribution and over-prescribing of the painkillers.
“These funds should be allocated in a way that reaches the entire community, most importantly those who are currently still alive, but struggling to stay alive and are the victims of these horrible practices,” Lissa Franklin, the executive director of the Delray Beach Drug Task Force, said during public comments at the commission’s June 9 meeting.
Delray Beach currently has $395,524 available for opioid-related services, Assistant City Manager Jeff Oris said during the commission meeting.
The commission’s approved expenditure plan includes $125,500 for a mobile integrated health unit run by the fire rescue department, $135,000 for workforce and job assistance grants, and $135,024 for affordable housing grants for residents in recovery.
The mobile integrated health unit is designed to follow up with residents who were transported to the hospital due to opioid-related issues, recurring substance use or mental health issues. Through this program, residents who aren’t connected with recovery resources after their hospital visit will be referred to the appropriate professionals and services to help maintain long-term stability.
“This program, at its core, is meant to address on a local level a hole that we know exists in our health care system,” Fire Chief Ronald Martin said.
Settlement funds for the unit will finance up to 50% of the program’s anticipated $251,000 total, covering part of the salary for a paramedic and a licensed clinical social worker. No source of funding has been identified for the remaining cost.
Commissioner Juli Casale voiced her concern about funding a new two-person unit instead of contributing to an existing program from a private provider.
“I’m just wondering if it’s more financially efficient for us to find somebody doing it and fund them,” she said.
Casale worried that the unit will need additional funding in the next budget year to hire more staff — as the city prepares for potential budget reductions.
Martin acknowledged the commission’s concerns about the city’s financial uncertainty but emphasized the program’s importance.
“This is the right thing to do for the community,” he said.
The city is taking the community’s feedback to shape its spending priorities, Oris said.
“Treatment is not the issue right now; support for those in treatment and those who have come from treatment is the real issue,” he said.
As a next step, city staff is submitting the spending plan to the Florida Department of Children and Families. The city will then advertise a request for proposals for the approved services.
Staff will review applications before referring qualified proposals to the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, consisting of seven members appointed by the City Commission. The committee will then make funding recommendations to commissioners for final approval.
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