OR: Coos County passes resolution declaring addiction a public health crisis
By Nicholas Johnson
April 8, 2020
COOS COUNTY — At Tuesday’s Coos County Board of Commissioners meeting, commissioners adopted a resolution put forth by the Coos County Local Alcohol and Drug Planning Committee to join other counties statewide in working to find funding and develop programs to help treat addiction.
This resolution was crafted by the LADPC to open up dialogue between local addiction services and local government, so that public needs regarding addiction can be discussed with the Oregon Legislature.
“This isn’t just a justice system problem or a healthcare problem, this is a community problem that affects almost every family in our county,” said Kate Frame, a consultant who’s been working with the LADPC. “And when we look at statewide data, it’s clear that our county is not alone in this fight.”
In 2018, Oregon Governor Kate Brown released an executive order that acknowledges addiction as a public health crisis. In approving this resolution, the Coos County Commissioners have joined a number of Oregon counties in recognizing that health crisis.
“We do agree with Governor Brown’s executive order that addiction is a public health crisis, and additional funding needs to go to dealing with addiction,” Coos County Commissioner Mellissa Cribbins said.
The resolution cites local statistics to express need for improved addiction treatment in Coos County. According to data the resolution pulls from the Oregon Health Authority, more than 65% of children in foster care in Coos County have a parent with diagnosed substance use disorder.
Among statewide statistics, the resolution declares that the current system of care in Coos County is insufficient to meet the necessary levels of care for a continuum of recovery treatment. The resolution argues that since addiction recovery and treatment is lifelong, a continuum of services should be developed to reflect that.
“This slow response is unacceptable and is costing Coos County residents their lives and unjustly burdening our local systems. Addiction is a lifelong disease that requires a continuum of care that supports long term recovery, and we need our elected officials to prioritize this,” Frame said.
The direct orders of the resolution are to support governor Brown’s executive order, monitor the work of the Oregon Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, and to advocate to state and federal elected leaders to develop and implement a comprehensive statewide addiction recovery continuum of care, with funding to match.
“This resolution shows a couple of things, one is the fact that we acknowledge a problem, and two is that we believe more resources need to go toward treating addiction. We’re willing to lobby and put our foot behind finding those resources,” Cribbins said.
Passing the resolution is just the beginning of the work that the LADPC hopes to do with the Commissioners. There are continued efforts to open up dialogue between local partners on this issue and government in order to seek state funding for new programs.
“I think this has made our commissioners more aware of the issues in our community,” LADPC Chairperson Ross Acker said. “My expectations as the chair is to continue conversations with the commissioners and bring them further into our conversations topics that are important to the committee.”
In partnering with other counties that have also declared a public health crisis regarding addiction, a dialogue is also opened with programs throughout the state to develop programs that best fit the needs of the community.
“We’ve talked about having a small cohort of professionals from the committee visiting other sobering centers like the one in Grants Pass, and other facilities like that. Contacting other facilities to try and find out which model will make the most sense for our county,” Acker said.