BELCHERTOWN — The Select Board is backing recommendations to use opioid settlement money won in pharmaceutical lawsuits to create a new staff position dedicated to helping people in recovery find and maintain housing.
The proposal is one of two the board recently approved based on recommendations from the town’s Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Committee, which accepts ideas that support prevention and care for those impacted by the opioid crisis.
Opioid Settlement Fund Committee Chair Gail Gramarossa said at a Select Board meeting in early November that the housing and care coordinator would split his or her time between Belchertown and Ware, and both towns plan to apply for a matching grant to maintain the position for two years.
The Select Board on Dec. 1 also approved a request from high school students from Belchertown’s Helping Hands Club for funding to attend the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Conference. The students would learn new and effective ways to prevent substance misuse in schools, and their chaperons would take similar courses on programs for older community members.
Addressing highest need
When the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Committee surveyed the recovery community, housing and care coordination rose to the top of the priority list, Select Board Chair Lesa Pearson said. This includes not only finding housing for people coming out of a recovery program or jail, but also maintaining housing and stability.
“The housing crisis is larger than people with just substance use disorder. (But) people who are particularly of limited economic means have huge challenges finding affordable and safe housing,” Gramarossa said.
The Recovery Center of Hope in Ware, which also serves Belchertown and Palmer, provides recovery couches, medical providers and therapists. However, the center does not have any staff that specialize in housing. Gramarossa proposed that Ware and Belchertown apply for a RIZE Massachusetts matching grant to create a housing and care coordinator.
Each town will commit $50,000 of their opioid settlement funds to the program, equating to $200,000 if they receive the two-year grant. The position would split time equally between both towns.
Select Board members asked whether opioid settlement funds could pay for staffing that impact those inside and outside the recovery community, such as emergency medical personnel. Gramarossa explained the state expressively prohibits using these funds for emergency town operations.
The Quabbin Health District, which provides municipal health staff for Pelham, Belchertown and Ware, have previously declined the opportunity to create this position. The Belchertown Board of Health cannot oversee staff or create this position themselves, Gramarossa said.
“I would like to see them in front of this board and ask them because we’re paying them money to maintain our health,” said Select Board member Jonathan Ritter. “I see it as a service that this town could provide under the Board of Health.”
More details, like the number of clients from Belchertown and the method for tracking time between towns, are still in the works. Gramarossa said the towns will not need to commit any money until February, and only if they receive the grant.
Select Board Member Nicole Miner added that once the grant money is gone, the position would not be funded with taxpayer money. Gramarossa agreed, and committed to looking for other funding sources for the position.
““I just want us to be OK with saying at some point we might not have this around forever, but let’s take advantage of it while we can right now,” she said.
Helping Hands extends reach
The Helping Hands Club is a group of 22 high school students that volunteer to run prevention programs. For instance, students conduct yearly drug and alcohol-use surveys to debunk perceived norms around substance-use among teens. The group also collaborates with BOAT, or Belchertown Overcomes Adversity Together.
While these programs can educate their peers on substance misuse, the students expressed an interest in learning more at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Conference. Over 4,000 people, including a large youth population, attend the conference to gather new education and prevention strategies.
“It’s the hub where all the coalitions in the country meet and they learn,” said Alen Mada, of Belchertown Advisory for Helping Hands, at the Dec. 1 meeting. “The main piece of this is they can meet other student groups that do the same thing, and they don’t really have this opportunity now.”
Kris Hoag, BOAT program director, said that students will learn leadership skills, presentation skills and “scientific, evidence-based programming” to implement into schools and Belchertown community.
“I work with students at the college levels and I think it’s really important that you get opportunities like this, especially if you bring it back to your community,” Select Board member Whintey Jorns-Kuhnlenz said.
Several board members asked the three students in attendance how they plan to enact these new prevention methods in the community. The students explained that skill will be one of the many they learn at the conference.
“We know that kids experiment, so having our youth being able to talk to their peers about this too — not just coming from the adults because a lot of times it’s more effective coming from your peer group — can save lives,” Hoag said.
