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Beds, community liaison, transportation top ideas at Valpo forum on how to use opioid settlement funds

Post-Tribune - 1/19/2023

Jan. 19—Beds for people in recovery, transportation and a liaison to help people struggling with addiction find the services they need were a few of the top suggestions during a Tuesday night forum on what Valparaiso should do with its share of settlement money from lawsuits against the manufacturers and distributors of opioids.

Valparaiso City Councilman Peter Anderson, R-5th District, put together the panel and the format with the goal, he said before it started, of doing "something groundbreaking and generational with the funds," which will be allocated by the city council.

The funds are part of a national settlement with Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson. Indiana's share of the settlement is approximately $507 million, to be divided among all communities over a period of years, officials said.

In all, Anderson said, Valparaiso will receive about $1.2 million. The funds are front-loaded, so the city receives $242,000 the first year and between $50,000 and $70,000 each year for the next 16 years after that.

"I would probably say every person in this room has been touched by addiction in some fashion," Anderson said as the forum got underway.

The most critical needs, panelists said, were for more beds for those who need to go into recovery, and transportation services so those in recovery can get to counseling and other appointments.

Sam Burgett, the Valparaiso Police Department's social worker, said she goes in the community to promote recovery and has had people come to the police department and say they're ready for help, but there's a gap in availability of treatment facilities.

"With all these different agencies, it seems like a common thread is it takes a really long time to get a bed," she said, adding she met a man in the emergency room and in the six hours she waited for a placement, he started going through withdrawal and had to go to detox.

Likewise, Kristi Chervenak, a deputy coroner and coordinator for Recovery Connection with Porter County PACT, said her agency provides recovery coaches and works with the courts to provide support to those in treatment programs.

She spent 13 hours working with a client to find a bed in treatment.

"There is definitely a gap in our community getting individuals into treatment. We try to bridge that gap," she said.

Mitch Peters, a public defender and founder of Respite House, a halfway house for men coming out of addiction, reiterated the need for more treatment facilities and said his two locations, combined with others in the city, don't have anywhere near enough beds for the people who need them.

"It's now easier to get high than it is to get help," he said.

He also suggested an old V-Line commuter bus from the city or another vehicle that could shuttle those in recovery where they need to go "because transportation is the next biggest issue behind where to go."

The most supported suggestion, from David Cummins, a doctor specializing in emergency and addiction medicine, was to use some of the funding for a care coordinator of sorts, who could help those seeking a bed in a recovery facility or halfway house find a place to go, among other things.

The funding isn't enough to build another treatment center, he said, but could go a long way to supplement what's already available in the community. He also gave a nod to Anderson's suggestion to use the funds to build a legacy.

"Along those lines, I really like the city having someone — I hate to say on the payroll — to connect someone to services, a care coordinator or a social worker," Cummins said.

Peters agreed, though he was wary of the position being placed on the city's payroll.

"I think it's a direction we all agree about," he said.

Porter Superior Court Chris Buckley oversees the county's mental health court, one of the county's problem solving courts, along with veterans court and adult drug court, which are both under the purview of Porter Superior Court Judge Michael Drenth, who also was on the panel.

Research shows that there's a 75% to 80% overlap between mental health issues and addiction, Buckley said, "and some jail populations, it's even higher than that."

In the two years since he's been elected, Buckley said there's been a "major spike" in the opioid cases filed in his court. Candidates for problem solving courts, he added, have nonviolent charges against them and have already been in the court system for six to 18 months.

Defendants going through the programs plead guilty to one or all of the charges against them. If they don't complete the court program, they are sentenced or face other sanctions, Buckley said.

"I know that looks kind of strange in a court setting," to offer rewards to offenders, "but we know through research those are very powerful tools."

Defendants who go through the programs successfully have a 42% recidivism rate, compared to 72% for those who don't.

"We think that is a very significant outcome," Buckley said.

The Valparaiso Community School Corporation has an assortment of programs from elementary through high school to address substance abuse, said Erin Hawkins, the district's director of social emotional learning, including random drug tests for high school students who participate in extracurricular activities and/or drive to school.

"When we think about peer approval and giving a reason to say 'no,' that can be a deterrent," she said.

She, too, sees the need to be able to expedite recovery programs for students and their families when they are ready.

"That, I think, could have great value," she said. "It can be a lot for a family to deal with."

Other panelists, including Chuck Harris, former Porter County Coroner and president of the Hub Coalition, formerly the Porter County Substance Abuse Council, also touted what's in place now. State officials recently asked the coalition to oversee its companion program in Starke County because it wasn't performing as well as it should.

The coalition, which Harris said is considered the gold standard across the state, focuses on substance abuse and behavioral health. He noted the importance of a framework for that work.

"I think that's what we're doing here today, community change in a fair and equitable manner," he said.

The 40 or so people who attended the forum, including elected officials from the city and county, had questions and suggestions about how to move forward and more than one attendee noted that the number of people attending was quite low given how serious the opioid problem is.

Hannah Trueblood of Valparaiso said the city's next steps should include those in recovery as well as their families. Judges and the courts are "a piece of the puzzle but this is a 1,000 piece puzzle we're trying to put together."

City council members were supportive of the suggested initiatives and shared their own perspectives.

"We want this to be sustainable long term," Evan Costas, R-At-large, said about a care coordinator. "If we can hire someone to go out and get grants and help these organizations, and possibly be sustainable, that would be a good thing."

Council member Robert Cotton, D-2nd District, preferred an approach that included Porter County and all of its municipalities.

"I'm going to continue my conversation with the county and the other cities," he said.

After the forum, Porter County Council member Greg Simms, D-3rd District, who spearheaded a suicide awareness and prevention program for the county, said he, too, would like to see the county and its municipalities pool their resources.

He has already reached out to officials in Valparaiso and Portage.

"I want all the cities who are getting money to sit down and decide what we want to do with this money," he said. "This is a Porter County problem and we need to work on a solution. This is a good start and a conversation. Now let's move this forward."

Video of the forum can be found on the city's website at https://www.ci.valparaiso.in.us/1684/Watch-City-Meetings.

alavalley@chicagotribune.com

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