Mayor Brown Proposes Boost to Opioid Treatment, Navigation Services
Erin Hut, Director of Communications, ehut@spokanecity.org
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at 6:28 p.m.
At the most recent Gabriel’s Challenge community meeting, Mayor Lisa Brown announced her proposal to invest $730,000 in additional opioid settlement funds into opioid treatment, capital investments, and wrap around services across the City of Spokane.
Mayor Brown’s proposal includes:
- $300,000 for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) treatment for infants and wraparound family services at Maddie’s Place, a non-profit recovery nursery for babies experiencing withdrawal due to prenatal substance exposure
- $30,000 to support capital investments for mobile medication-assisted treatment and outreach
- $400,000 to stand up an outdoor navigation program and increase outreach to navigate people currently living outdoors with or at-risk of opioid use disorder into appropriate housing options
“This proposal aims to directly support the vital work of community organizations on the front lines of the opioid crisis. This funding would also help establish a new outdoor navigation program, which will fill a critical gap in services for those in need,” Mayor Brown said.
“We are deeply grateful to the City of Spokane for recognizing the urgent and ongoing need for specialized infant care and family support in the wake of the opioid crisis,” said Shaun Cross, President & CEO at Maddie’s Place. “This funding ensures our doors stay open, our staff remains strong, and our advocacy for sustainable healthcare solutions continues.”
To date, the City of Spokane has allocated $2,480,350 in opioid settlement dollars to various opioid related services. Those allocations include:
- $500,000 to increase clinical and administrative capacity within the Spokane Fire Department’s CARES Team
- $500,000 to launch case management services for opioid use disorder patients as part of the High Utilizer and Complex Care Initiative
- $124,350 to embed a behavioral health provider with Code Enforcement and Spokane Police’s Homeless Outreach Team
- $350,000 to expand access to treatment through the Spokane Regional Health District’s Medication-Assisted Treatment program (co-investment with Spokane County)
- $400,000 to expand sobering bed capacity at Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services (co-investment with Spokane County)
- $115,000 to create a data analyst project position to track performance of opioid settlement dollars and report opioid-use disorder metrics to guide future investments
- $500,000 to support a City grant for culturally specific behavioral health treatment
