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Community leaders urge Yellowstone County not to give up on substance abuse coalition

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Community leaders urge Yellowstone County not to give up on substance abuse coalition

Mar 28, 2023 | 10:13 pm ET
By Darrell Ehrlick
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Community leaders urge Yellowstone County not to give up on substance abuse coalition
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Substance Abuse Connect Executive Director Zack Terakedis speaks at the Yellowstone County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday about the efforts to combat substance abuse, poverty and mental health. Commissioners John Ostlund and Mark Morse are seated (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).

A multi-agency approach to homelessness, substance abuse and mental health care – and a million dollar contract-  almost got axed Tuesday in the Montana’s largest county over $16,000.

Yellowstone County Commissioners met on Tuesday to discuss cancelling the contract with a coalition of human service and business agencies, under the umbrella organization of Substance Abuse Connect, which formed to address the three areas of poverty, mental health and substance abuse.

Former U.S. District Attorney Kurt Alme originally convened the group several years ago and called upon leaders of Montana’s largest county to come together to address the issues in a coordinated way instead of as stand-alone social services. That gave rise to Substance Abuse Connect, which includes various agencies ranging from Rimrock to the Community Crisis Center to the Downtown Billings Alliance.

In April 2022, the coalition was given a contract through the county, using funds from a public safety mill levy passed originally in 2013 to work on issues related to mental health and substance abuse. The contract runs through the end of June, but Yellowstone County Commissioner Mark Morse brought a motion on Tuesday to give the required 60-day notice to cancel the contract because he and Commissioner John Ostlund raised concerns about fiscal transparency, lack of data and administrative overhead.

In a meeting attended by coalition members as well as other community leaders, including Billings Mayor Bill Cole and two city councilmembers, coalition executive director Zack Terakedis told commissioners that the coalition was providing quarterly updates, financial statements and was willing to work with the commissioners to get the kind of data they needed to ensure that taxpayer money was going to support people, not administrative overhead.

He told commissioners repeatedly that $16,000 had been used by the agency to contract with the United Way of Yellowstone County as a fiscal agent because the Substance Abuse Coalition is not a nonprofit, rather a coalition of mainly other service agencies. That was the only administrative cost the coalition incurred that was paid for through the county levy; other administrative costs, he told the commissioners, including his salary, has been funded through a grant from the State of Montana meant to address issues like homelessness and substance abuse through a collaboration. The contract with the county is worth approximately $1.1 million.

Community members told the commission that the underlying issues contributing to homeless, mental health, poverty and substance abuse were complex, and that demand for those services has only increased. Different coalition members report that more than 1,300 individuals have been identified in the past year, with demand for services far outstripping supply.

Yellowstone County data

Yellowstone Care Connect tracks the demand for services as part of the Substance Abuse Coalition. It gave part of the following statistics to the Yellowstone County Commissioners:

  • 1,395 individuals identified or used services who did not have stable housing.
  • 197 of those were children.
  • 62 were 75 years-old or older
  • 99 were disabled
  • 904 are still currently identified remain in the system. Others have moved onto stable housing.
  • The coalition reports a 12% success rate at permanently housing individuals.

Ultimately, the commission decided to rework — not cancel — the contract to specifically include the types of financial data the commissioners want in order to be satisfied. Terakedis told the Daily Montanan he was satisfied with amending the contract and said he wanted to work with the county commissioners so that they have all the data they want on the coalition.

“They’re not wrong,” Terakedis said. “It’s a first-time grant so we want to get them that, and it’s a lot of organizations that are involved. But we also have to realize that services are completely underfunded and the demand has increased dramatically in three years.”

Groups and individuals at the meeting mostly testified in support of the work of the coalition, and pointed to the ongoing challenges facing Yellowstone County and Billings, in particular.

Cole told the commissioners he worried that canceling the contract without a back-up plan would risk setting the community back, even as the city is paying for upcoming training to discuss strategies for making downtown more safe and friendly.

Daniel Brooks of the Billings Chamber of Commerce said that while there should be no sacred cows in government, he and businesses were also concerned that the county had no alternative if it disbanded Substance Abuse Connect. He urged the trio of commissioners to delay any final decision until the county has found an alternative that can handle the diverse range of services the coalition offers.

“(Cancelling the contract) haphazardly terminates these services without having another option in place,” said Yellowstone County Commissioner Don Jones. “It jeopardizes this levy.”

He said the problem with these issues has built up over time, and the commission has not even give the coalition a year.

“We knew that it was not going to be a home run overnight,” Jones said.

Members of the coalition pointed out that nearly $320,000 has been invested in mental health services in the county’s jail facility to help with mental health.

“The money has been split up into many different services,” Terakedis said.

Still, Morse wondered if the county could better save or invest money by having the issues tackled by a volunteer board.

After the meeting, Terakedis downplayed that idea, saying in order to tackle these longstanding issues, a more professional approach was needed.

“I would envision that it would not be that hard to have an umbrella organization that would be already paid for by the boards and agencies,” Morse said. “Can’t we do it without an administrative fee?”

Terakedis said that most nonprofit and service agencies that make up the coalition are cash strapped and working at or above capacity.

“Most of their boards are comprised of volunteers, so how would that work? Would it be a volunteer board overseeing this coalition made up of volunteers from other boards, doing more volunteer work?” Terakedis said. “This way we have leveraged the full benefit of the county dollars using the state grants to coordinate this.”

He said he was looking forward to sitting down with the commissioners to ascertain exactly what information they needed and what format would suit them.

“This is a great solution. All we asked is to give us enough time and tell us how you want the data,” he said.

Community Crisis Center

Jones said during last week’s meeting which led up to the vote on Tuesday that much of the cause of the unhappiness stemmed from concerns from the Community Crisis Center, an organization owned by the two largest healthcare providers in the region, Intermountain Health and Billings Clinic. The mission of the center is to divert those in crisis from going directly to the emergency rooms, causing more backlog there.

Crisis Center Program Director MarCee Neary said that her organization has been a part of every coalition meeting and intends to continue.

“There’s been an attempt to make us look disloyal,” she said on Tuesday.

Ostlund also voiced a concern that with the disappearance of The Hub, a former center for homelessness in downtown Billings,  that fewer services are being provided for the money being spent.

Where’s the jail?

As a part of the coalition’s focus, Terakedis said the organizations look at three key aspects: prevention, treatment and diversion. Billings City Councilwoman Jennifer Owen pointed out that as part of the focus, the group tries to prevent residents from heading to the county-operated Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

That facility has for years suffered with overcrowding and not being able to keep up with the demand. Owen encouraged commissioners to take a longer, more comprehensive approach which included establishing a comprehensive plan for the jail.

“This is inherently intertwined with your jail incarceration policy,” Owen said. “We need the strong stick of jail along with the carrot of a successful diversion program.”