Inslee meets with Tri-Cities leaders to discuss priorities for combating fentanyl crisis

Dec. 11—Washington Governor Jay Inslee told Tri-Cities leaders that finding solutions to the fentanyl crisis is one of his biggest priorities going into the 2024 legislative session, and he wanted their advice on what is having the biggest impact.

And while there wasn't a single definitive answer, Inslee was given the makings of a road map that Tri-Cities leaders say can lead to success.

Inslee hosted the round table with Merit Resource Services in Kennewick on Friday as part of a series of Tri-Cities stops to discuss issues and listen to perspectives from local leaders about energy, fentanyl and biofuels research being worked on at a joint Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and WSU facility.

During the round table Inslee spoke with counselors, addiction service providers and law enforcement. He said the governor's office is preparing a big ask for the Legislature for increased funding for Narcan access, treatment and education.

In a recent blog post about the need for better youth education, his office pointed to a study showing that 6.3% of kids aged 12 to 17 already show signs of substance use disorder. At a ratio of 1 in every 16 middle and high school age students, that's potentially one teen in every classroom at risk.

"I am disturbed that our kids still don't understand how deadly fentanyl is. It's the nuclear weapon of drugs," Inslee said.

He said that the primary purpose of his visit though was to listen, and learn what Tri-Citians consider priorities.

Benton County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor told Inslee that their biggest challenge is getting people into treatment.

"We're going to make a big ask to the Legislature to step up to the plate to increase access," Inslee said. "The wait times are just unacceptable for people to get in to get help."

Bloor told Inslee that his advice would be to focus on creating easy to access diversion programs. The accountability portion helps keep people on track in treatment, he said.

"People in crisis are somebody's mother, daughter, brother, sister. We don't like just sending people to prison ... ," Bloor said.

Kennewick Police Chief Chris Guerrero told Inslee that the fentanyl crisis isn't something law enforcement can arrest their way out of. Stopping the supply, he said, has to be the focus.

Benton County District Court Judge Jennifer Azure told Inslee that their therapeutic courts are changing lives. The county has specialized court programs for mental health issues, veterans and nonviolent drug charges.

Defendants in the courts are required to go through treatment or counseling and can become eligible to have their charges vacated upon successful completion of the programs.

Making recovery possible

Merit Executive Director Shereen Hunt said they work to ensure people trying to begin their recovery journey can get help as soon as possible.

Hunt said their diversion programs are key for helping law enforcement and prosecutors get people into recovery services. That outreach starts at the jails.

She wants Inslee and other lawmakers to see that programs like theirs are making a difference.

"One individual at a time, one family at a time, we're making a difference," she said.

Hunt said that for many people addiction is compounded by problems at home, problems with their health, difficulty finding and keeping a job and many other factors.

Recovery programs help reduce recidivism, hospitalization and legal problems.

One local example of how proposed funding can be used to make an impact is Merit's new Recovery Navigator Program, which is helping people in crisis get help faster. They're accomplishing that by pairing patients in recovery with people with similar lived experiences to help guide them.

These navigators work with patients to offer them a path to recovery and get the medical help, resources and community support they need to be successful in recovery.

Hunt said no one is turned away, regardless of their situation or ability to pay.

"Treatment works and recovery can happen," Hunt said. "We have been doing this for over four decades and we know that treatment works."

Hunt said she hopes that Inslee walked away from the meeting with a better understanding of how programs like their Resource Navigators can improve access to services.

She also hopes he's able to help find solutions to providers shortages, which have a huge impact on availability of services.

Merit was able to launch the Resource Navigator program by getting their navigators into online classes, but locally the Tri-Cities doesn't have the needed classes anymore and that makes it a lot harder to encourage potential future workers to get into the field.

Because they got students into online classes, the organization was able to immediately get navigators into the jail to help with referrals after drug use and possession laws were changed this summer.

Colleges in Wenatchee, Yakima and Spokane offer courses for the credentials needed for substance use disorder professionals to work as Resource Navigators but Columbia Basin College no longer does. Right now Merit has eight resource navigators taking classes online one day a week and working with peers in recovery.

Hunt said getting these courses back at Columbia Basin College or at WSU-Tri-Cities would make a big difference because students are more likely to work in the community they're going to school, especially if there are intern or work-study opportunities available.

She said the key to the success of this program is pairing people seeking treatment with navigators who have shared lived experiences and understand what they're going through.

"Anything that's a barrier or a challenge, we're working on it," she said. "I just appreciate the governor coming and visiting with us and listening to the needs of our community and focusing on the solutions."

Fentanyl in the Tri-Cities

Fentanyl was the cause of nearly all overdose deaths in the first half of this year. That followed a record high number of fentanyl related deaths in 2022 in the Tri-Cities area.

Over the past five years, total overdose deaths in Benton and Franklin counties have been declining, but the percentage attributed to fentanyl has skyrocketed.

In Benton County, 17 people died from overdoses through June 1. All but two were fentanyl related, according to data provided to the Herald by the Benton County Coroner's Office. In 2022, 37 out of the 43 overdose deaths were linked to the potent drug.

The share attributed to fentanyl is also higher in Franklin County — 5 of 6 the fatalities through June 1, compared 14 of last year's 22 overdose deaths, according to data from the Franklin County Coroner's Office.

That combined total marked a 41% increase over the previous high for both counties, which was a combined 46 overdose deaths in 2020.

Overdose deaths are more common during periods of freezing weather, so numbers tend to spike when temperatures slip below 50 degrees, according to findings from a National Institutes of Health study.

This year Franklin County began tracking the overdose history of those who have died, and through June nearly every all of the victims had a previous history of overdoses that they survived.

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