by Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle
October 9, 2024
U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas – and Oregon county leaders in her Willamette Valley district – are looking for ways to bolster the state’s arsenal of tools to combat the fentanyl addiction and overdose crisis.
Salinas on Wednesday released a list of proposals to address the addiction crisis, which killed nearly 1,400 Oregonians in 2023. They would make it easier for residential facilities to serve more low-income Oregonians on Medicaid – something that’s sorely needed – and create incentives so more people seek careers in behavioral health.
Salinas developed her approach after talking with county leaders in her congressional district in Washington, Marion, Yamhill and Polk counties. Oregon communities are at a crossroads as the state seeks to curb the tide of lethal overdoses. In Salem, state lawmakers passed House Bill 4002, which recriminalized low-level drug possession and unwound Measure 110. It also gave counties the ability to start deflection programs that allow drug users to obtain treatment and avoid criminal charges in court.
Law enforcement, county officials and Salinas consistently recognize that Oregon will not solve the addiction crisis with one new program or one new approach.
“I want to be clear, there is no one size fits all solution to this crisis,” Salinas said in a press call Wednesday that included county officials and law enforcement. “It is complex and complicated and it will require strategic policies and coordinated partnerships at all levels of government before we can start to see real progress.”
For example, the deflection programs need to include residential treatment, but often, there are not enough beds for people who need that kind of stepped-up care, Salinas said. A state report released this year found Oregon lacks about 3,700 beds for adults who need mental health or addiction care.
Years of work ahead for Oregon to address its lack of behavioral health beds
Salinas said she will introduce a bill in Congress to increase the number of beds for facilities that are reimbursed through Medicaid and create competitive loans and grants so facilities can grow.
“While this legislation is still in the works, my hope is that it will help us solve the bed shortage we are now experiencing and connect more people with treatment,” Salinas said.
One problem is that under federal law Medicaid-funded facilities that treat addiction cannot have more than 16 beds, Salinas said.
Salinas said she wants to see if there’s an effective way to double that limit to 36 beds to encourage more expansion.
“Sixteen beds is really expensive when everybody knows how high and how much real estate is here in Oregon,” Salinas said.
Prevention is another piece: Salinas is a co-sponsor of the Fentanyl Awareness for Children and Teens in Schools Act, which would put education programs in place in schools that warn children about the dangers of synthetic opioids. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, was introduced in the House in September 2023 and referred to two separate congressional committees.
The bill is modeled after the Beaverton School District’s prevention program, which provides a yearly lesson to middle school and high school students about the dangers of fentanyl
A Beaverton couple, Jon and Jennifer Epstein, advocated for the program after they lost their son Cal to fentanyl poisoning in 2020 when he mistakenly took a fake blue pill.
Oregon’s U.S. congressional delegation wants opioid prevention efforts to go nationwide
Counties weigh in
When lawmakers passed House Bill 4002, they allowed counties to start deflection programs on Sept. 1, when low-level drug possession became a misdemeanor. Washington County started right away.
Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington said police have cited 27 people so far with the new penalty. Among that group, 63%, or 17 people, opted to enter the new program and seek help, Harrington said.
Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey said officers look for ways to put people into treatment rather than jail whenever possible.
“Even if we come across those folks who don’t technically qualify for our deflection program, we’re still giving them the opportunity to get into treatment,” Massey said. “That has become the priority, as opposed to incarceration.”
Polk County Commissioner Jeremy Gordon said his county’s deflection program is “really about offering an opportunity for folks to receive help instead of going right into a punishment setting.”
Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter said the key is starting small and doing it right. Marion County started a similar program seven years ago before the legislation.
“House Bill 4002 was not a solution,” he said. “It was something that gave us tools back to better address the problem.”
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