Why Should Delaware Care?
Kent County leaders in recent months have had to reckon with a lack of addiction treatment and homelessness services in the region. As part of that reckoning, a new committee stood up by Dover’s mayor is tasked with recommending how the city should use state funds to provide more services.
On Wednesday night, a group of Dover municipal and community leaders suggested using some of the state’s $250 million in legal settlements secured from opioid manufacturers and distributors to create an addiction detox facility, expand existing treatment centers and deploy “mobile intervention units.”
These leaders, part of Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen’s “Blue Ribbon Opioid Use Disorder Taskforce Committee,” were charged with recommending how the city should tap into the settlement funds and address treatment gaps in the area.
At its inaugural meeting, members outlined their responsibilities and how they intend to produce a set of recommendations to the Dover City Council early next year so that leaders can apply for funds.
Dover’s efforts come as part of a push by city and county governments across the state to get their hands on grants from Delaware’s Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission, which manages the settlement dollars.
A committee composed of local leaders in the state, including Christiansen, with the power to sidestep the competitive grant process required to receive those settlement dollars sat idle for years as leaders did not show up to the required meetings.
Christiansen, who has served as Dover’s mayor since 2014, also caught flak earlier this month when he floated the idea of using the funds to build a new competition swimming pool estimated to cost between $20 and $44 million.
What happened at the meeting?
Roy Sudler, the committee’s chairman and a Dover City Council member, opened the meeting with what committee members would be responsible for, as well as some of the principles the city will follow with its funding.
Residents and two other Dover City Council members sat in the audience in what was a more informal environment compared to other public meetings. Members of the public were free to ask questions as they pleased about the process and offer suggestions about the funding at any point during Wednesday night’s meeting.
Dover has yet to receive funding from the state opioid commission, but Sudler said he hopes the city would receive millions of dollars for its efforts.
At one point, the conversation shifted into a debate over public safety, and how the city would hope to address panhandling along street medians. Part of the presentation included mention of a 2019 Newark, N.J., law that would fine drivers who hand money out to people panhandling on the street.
The presentation also pointed to a specific piece of Delaware law that says it is illegal for individuals to “obstruct traffic” and that those who do so can “face charges for disorderly conduct and public intoxication, depending on the specifics of the situation.”
State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-South Dover), who sits on the committee, continued his push for more addiction detox in and around Dover. Buckson argued there is not enough choice in Kent County for residents trying to access services.
He also said he believed “involuntary” treatment may be something the city should explore, and repurposing the Morris Correctional Institute into a service center.
“So I will tell you, for me personally, there is a point in time where the addict on the street no longer has the choice, and we have to take the choice from them,” Buckson said.
Zack Bib, of Firm Foundation Recovery, said there are not enough options for people following treatment to enter a recovery community. Bib, who leads the faith-based organization, said he hopes the city would use the funds to invest further into 12-step programming and more in-depth peer counseling models.
He said he believes the current model of treatment, which he called the “wash, rinse, repeat model” doesn’t create long-lasting impact or community for those involved.
“You can open a million of the same models, you’re gonna have the same cultural problems,” Bib said.
Cammerin Norwood, a Dover resident who runs an youth outreach program called the Our R.O.O.T.S Foundation, said he hopes the funds go to those who are living and working in the community.
Norwood argued that there is a “disparity” in funding between larger organizations and smaller community-based ones like his. He spoke to his own experience of working with kids and having to drop them off at homes where those parents may be struggling with addiction, often feeding the children out of his own pocket.
“It’s only right that the people boots on the ground that deal with this at a serious level be properly compensated,” Norwood said.
Toward the end of the meeting, the committee voted to approve six proposed recommendations for how to use the funds, which included developing an addiction detox center, expanding telehealth services and deploying “mobile intervention units” to refer people into treatment.
Committee members did not further discuss what those mobile units could look like.
It is unclear if those are the recommendations the committee will submit to the full Dover City Council, considering it is slated to meet again before the end of the year to further discuss the funding.
The meeting ended with residents and committee members gathering together for a group prayer, as well as mingling over future events different organizations would be holding.
