County approves opiate addict treatment at jail

Posted
Jefferson County commissioners approved a contract agreement with the state Health Care Authority Jan. 14 to establish the county jail as an initiation site for medicated treatment for inmates experiencing opiate addiction. The contract agreement will reimburse the county up to $463,000 to provide medicated assisted treatment at the jail. It also establishes an opiate treatment network with Olympic Peninsula Health Services to provide wraparound services for individuals struggling with addiction. The partnership with OPHS will provide individuals with education, induction into the medication assisted treatment program, care navigation and access to social services such as Medicaid, if they are eligible. “Through our screening process, if we identify someone who has opiate use disorder, if they screen as a candidate that could benefit from this program, we will induct them into the program,” jail superintendent David Fortino said. “That means we will provide them with an antagonist or an agonist medication. They will establish care with a care navigator. Then they will continue that treatment while they’re incarcerated.” The contract with OPHS will provide what Fortino called a “warm handover” from the jail to the assisted treatment program. “They will transport them directly from jail to their first appointment,” Fortino said. “That’s a really critical time for people. As soon as they’re out there, they can go back to what they were doing. This helps bridge that gap.” Fortino said on an average day, the jail sees three to five people suffering from opiate use disorder. “The hope is to save lives and help some people get out of this cycle of addiction, criminal activity and being repeat clients of our criminal justice system,” county administrator Philip Morley said. “In 2017 nationally there were 70,000 deaths related to opiates. It’s a growing issue.” The contract is set to expire Sept. 29. Morley said the county hopes to seek another contract in the future. “I think it behooves us to try to decrease these complications of systems and silos that keep people from getting into treatment,” county commissioner David Sullivan said. “Each one of these people is an individual who has their own medical and social situation that they bring forward. It’s a critical time where we can do something that makes sense for the people and for the community.”