Measure 110 council OKs BestCare grant for Jefferson County drug treatment, recovery services
SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council this week approved a Behavioral Health Resource Network grant, funding drug treatment and recovery services in Jefferson County.
BestCare Treatment Services, which offers a wide range of support services, will coordinate the BHRN for the Jefferson County region. The approved budget is slightly more than $2 million over an 18-month contract.
Among other services, BestCare will offer a transition house, offering low-barrier housing opportunities, with Warm Springs Tribal members as a priority population. The transition center will also provide wraparound support services.
To receive funding, successful applicants within each Oregon county must provide a slate of services through a funded provider network or BHRN.
This represents the second award from approximately $265 million in funds allocated through regional BHRNs to support substance use treatment providers across Oregon.
It is expected that as many as 10 more BHRNs across the state will receive approval by the end of June.
As of Friday, OAC subcommittees have approved applications for BHRNs in 33 Oregon counties.
More information on the approval process for BHRNs can be found here.
Earlier this month, the OAC voted to adopt a new 18-month grant spending timeline that will extend from July 2022 through December 2023. This means that regardless of when a grant agreement is final, the grant will be extended through December 2023.
Funding will be released no later than 20 days after a BHRN receives full approval and all agreements between Oregon Health Authority and the providers are executed.
OHA will continue to provide frequent updates on the funding process.
Other M110 funds to be disbursed
A three-month extension will be offered to Access to Care grantees through Sept. 30, 2022. The grantees will receive a pro-rated amount based on their prior award, bringing the total funds disbursed to approximately $39.9 million.
These funds will prevent a lapse of funding or interruption of service for grantees while the OAC continues to review and approve applications.
Access to Care grantees comprise 70 substance use treatment programs that provide treatment, housing, vocational training and other life-changing support services.
Background: In November 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act of 2020, which became effective on Dec. 4, 2020, to better serve people actively using substances or diagnosed with a substance use disorder. In July 2021, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 755, which amended the act and made it more feasible to implement.
People who provide drug treatment and recovery services and advocates for criminal justice reform wrote Measure 110 in response to the high rate of drug addiction and overdoses in Oregon, and the disproportionate impact of those outcomes on Oregon’s communities of color.
Their goal was to establish a more equitable and effective approach to substance use disorder. OHA is working with the Measure 110 OAC to develop a first-in-the-nation health-based approach to substance use and overdose prevention system, which is more helpful, caring and cost-effective than punishing and criminalizing people who need help.
