right, I have 10 o'clock. Um, we'll go ahead and call the meeting to order. We'll start by saying the pledge of allegiance. If you'll join us of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, before we move forward, I'd like to just read this. Please turn your cell phones to the
vibrate and silence or offsetting. The opioid abatement funding advisory board allows any person to speak regarding an item on the agenda. The speaker is limited to two minutes unless otherwise determined by the chairperson to allow sufficient time for all speakers. Speaker shall refrain from abusive profane remarks, disruptive outward protest and other conduct which interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting upon completion of the public comment period. Discussion is limited to to board members and questions raised by the board. Was the meeting properly advertised?
Madam Chair, the meeting was advertised in the Pensacola News Journal on October 30th in the uh board's weekly meeting schedule. Great. Thank you. Do we have any speakers? No, ma'am. Okay. Has everyone had a time to review the minutes from the last meeting? Do I have a motion to accept the minutes? Motion to accept. Second. Second. All in favor? I. All right. So, the budget or the opioid
um funding board terms, do we need to vote on that or do anything with that specifically? We will. Um so, for the and we put this in here because obviously Philip and I are new as well. So, we just wanted to refresh everybody on this. So for the opioid um abatement funding advisory terms, so all members can serve two years and you can be royappointed for additional two-year term. So I'm not sure what year were you were you initiated in 2022 or do you need us to go back and look? The
third year. Third year. So, it looks like um so Kathy, it looks like your term expires in May of 2026. Same with Tommy White. Um John Matthysse in September of 2026. Dr. Irvin September 2026. And then um Matt in May of 2026. Okay. So, that's just for information for us at this point. Yep. That's just information. But the second bullet point there um is it does state that the chairperson
and the vice chair person have to be elected in October which we happen to be here. So it is time to reelect a chair and a vice chair. Um it does state in there specifically there is no max amount of time that somebody can serve as a chair or vice chair. So I'll just leave you with that. Is there any way we could put this off to the next meeting when we have all of the board members? I feel like that would be the best thing to do at this point.
And next, um the budget review. All right. So to date for the opioid abatement funds, we have received 5,498,45851. Um, and that includes the last U McKenzie payment we received in September of $128,79463. Repeat that for me, please. Sure. 5,498,45851.
Now of that, you guys have already obligated 3 million 647 362 and 36 cents. So, for this current um notice of funding availability fiscal year, we actually have a budget of 1 million $851,96.15. So, that's the only funding that we currently have available for
the applicants that submitted for this next year. Does anybody have any questions? No. Okay. Uh, so the next item on the agenda, we have the new requests for fiscal year 2425 funding availability awardes and this is from community health. You should have a handout that looks kind of like this. The last page really breaks out the change. Um, the big thing to note is that the total funding amount is not changing.
they are just reallocating where their funding is going. Uh Walter, do you want to come up and touch base a little bit about why you're requesting the changes? Sure. Um thank you board. Um so the there's kind of a couple areas that we're trying to reallocate. One is um specifically the provider. So, we've brought on um new MD,
we we entered in in contracting um for to expand the core network into Santa Rosa County. And so, in an effort of not to supplant funds or have overlapping funds, we wanted to pivot some of that that funding that was earmarked for an MD to a PA um that's on staff. Um we would like to see if we can backdate that to the beginning of the grant term just so we can can back into that full funding amount. Um, the other good thing is that Northwest Florida Health Network has
has brought in some additional funding for uh coverage of medication. And so again, not to try to supplant funds, drawing down that budget a little bit um from what we originally budgeted for um and and moving those funds elsewhere. So those are the two big areas. And then of course we had in our initial proposal we had multiple 50% FTEES. Um and we just want to combine those all into one 100% FTE. So instead of two people spending half of their time doing the work,
it's one person spending all of their time doing the work within core. So it doesn't take away from from services that are rendered. Um it just cleans things up for accounting and reporting purposes. Does anyone have any questions? Yes. So, why not take those funds to bring on additional personnel to for treatment? Uh because this is what we're trying to trying to do. So, you're going to put the workload on one person, which I think that can kind of be stressful. So, you're going from a a
psychiatry MD to a PA, but you're paying more for the PA. Um, and you now you're increasing the fringe benefits to 90,000 versus the 65,000. Um, so you you're you're getting so you're paying more for a non doctor and you're going to increase the fringe b the fringe. So now what is included
in your fringe benefits? So there there's two parts. I want to answer both. So um we're we're not paying so MDs. So the initial proposal the $100,000 with no fringe was for a contract MD um that was going to be quarter time. And so with the PA, you're getting 100% within the core program. We've got that MD on staff able to do the consulting. they're just covered in other grant projects funding that came on after this. Um the fringe um specifically is I think we've got
it at 28.65. So that's your FICO uh or FICA FICA. Um that's 18% for insurance. Um 3% for retirement and I believe 3% for workman's comp. Um, and so that covers that fringe benefit. Um, again, in the initial proposal, we had planned on just bringing on um a 1099 consult MD. Um, that's why there was
no fringe that was included in that 100,000. So, for a full-time MD with benefits and everything, that runs about $400,000 a year to hire on um a full-time licensed MD um in the specialty. Okay, any other questions. Thank you. Thank you. We need to make a motion. Yeah. If we're going to accept those, do I have a motion? Make a motion we
accept the change request and second. Guess I'm the only one left here. We'll second the money. just all I mean since the monies don't change it's like I just got I'm just you know it's one person and it just I just question if there could be some additional you know personnel brought on for for treatment purposes but um okay sir you making your second if I may I just want to go
over all the providers that we have that are providing core care. So, we have MD in that covers Santa Rosa and Escambia County. We have a total of two um mid-level nurse practitioners in Santa Rosa County. And then we have three mid levels in Escambia County. So, we've got our our core provider, so prescribing provider team is a total of six providers across Escambia and Santa Rosa. And a lot of this was due in part um we did not expect Santa Rosa Corps to come on in and the
way that our we've got Escambia and Santa Rosa set up as a continuum and so specifically the MD covers both counties um and Escambia County has still got more providers um and a larger impanelment um than Santa Rosa County. So the the capacity within the impanelment for both Escambia and Santa Rosa is actually larger than it's ever been. Um, and so I just want to to be clear on that because I understand your concern, Mr. White. Okay, I second. All in favor? I
the new or the new request pass. So the next item we have is the 2526 funding availability application review. Before we jump into that, can I have Waterfront come up and just give you a quick update on their plan and their ribbon cutting and all of that good stuff that's about to happen? Sure. Hi, I'm Lexi Osbbor, PR and development associate at Waterfront Rescue Mission. Um, so we have two main updates. Uh, the first one is that we have submitted our first reimbursement
request. It was about $31,000. that is covering basically just the purchase it the purchase of the home and then the other closing costs. Um we do have about $38,000 that we're still going to request reimbursement for. That's um going to cover the deck repairs that we did, the security, AC replacement, and just other things like that. We still have some furniture to purchase. Um but the more exciting update is that tomorrow we're having our ribbon cutting. Um it'll be at 11:00 a.m. and you guys are all invited. Um, so you guys can see the two houses that we were able
to purchase with the opio opioid abatement funds. Um, so we would love for you guys to make it if you're able to. Um, and I think that's just about it. Do you guys have any questions for me? What's the address? Oh, the address. That's an excellent question. Probably have that somewhere in here. Okay. So, that is going to be 5960 Louisville Avenue, Pensacola, Florida. And we do expect for the house to be move in ready by next week. Um, so it won't be perfectly move in ready by
the ribbon cutting. We still have a couple things to do and we're waiting on beds to come in. Um, but everything will be finalized next week and we should be moving the men in within the next month or two. So, eight it'll be eight men. That's that's great. I'm looking forward to that. Do you have did you have something you wanted to say? Thank you so much for sharing the good information. That's great. Thank you guys. Thank you. All right. So, next we'll go ahead for the funding availability application review. Okay. So, we received 10 applications for this year.
um the total funding request that we received, and this is not including the one forprofit um applicant that was knocked out just because they were forprofit and not a nonprofit, but just in the nonprofit applications, we received a funding request of 2,417,521. And just to remind you that the only budget we have remaining is the 1.8. So
um I sent you the link to the recording of the committee actually meeting. It was over a 2hour meeting. We really tried to be as fair and consistent uh as we could and to make sure the funding was being allocated the way that it should to give us, you know, obviously the the outcome that we're shooting for. So, with the committee's recommendation, that's just over 1.7 million. So, we're just under that 1.8 million mark. Um, and then I did share a spreadsheet with you guys that outlined what the nonprofit's ask was and what we
actually recommended so that you could kind of see where we took from. Um, but I'm we're open to any questions, suggestions that you guys have. I'm pretty sure most of the applicants probably are here if you want to see if any of them want to come up and talk about what they're trying to do. I'm open with for them to come up. Just give us a overview. That would be great. Okay, we'll just go in order. Um, is anybody here from Breitbridge?
Hi, my name is Cheryl Hinnan. I'm the assistant director at BreitBridge Ministries. Honored to be here today. Just a quick overview, just a quick overview is that we are currently under renovations which will add about 40 beds to our existing shelter beds. We currently have approximately 50 beds. So, this will almost double our capacity for housing. With this additional funding, we are going to be working with core providers to now for the first time be able to designate some beds for opioid use disorder. Um we will be working with Matt treatment
with our residents which we have not been in the past. this um grant I will say I can go through but I know you all have this exact amounts will provide funding for case management um additional um funding for our shelter specifically shelter manager a new assistant shelter manager position these are all it's a percentage um as we're adding beds occupancy cost also a percentage mileage reimbursement life skills classes also food um and a percentage of that position
um computer and copier and then opioid specific abatement training background checks and a um small portion for administration cost. Okay. So this funding would in essence double the beds you said for so it will help with help towards that help towards Yes. Not for any of the renovations or anything. This is really looking ahead at helping us fund what will be needed. A percentage a small percentage of that. Yes. Thank you. You have any questions? Anyone else?
Phillip. Liz, do you have an extra pen? This is the ask. This is the suggested amount. So the ask was 242 111 um 242,11 and the ask or the suggested amount from the committee was 16795840.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm going to move to the next EMS core just for a brief overview. Good morning. So, we are currently uh asking for uh mobile clinics. Uh in particular, we were asking for two, a total of $541,66
uh to be down to the penny. What has happened is is wonderful things. We've uh boomed uh by boom, I mean we've boomed uh 299 patients through the end of last month. um total 490 just when we celebrate our 400 milestone boom. Um so that and looking at the homeless population, lack of safe space for our providers to uh dose safely uh
really spawned this, not to mention with privacy concerns as well. And in truth, there is only one truly dedicated core asset, which is a 2021 Ford Expedition. um we are borrowing one from EMS which is a 2017 nearly 75,000 miles. So this is what has spurned our uh the need to make sure that we can uh push forward. Are there any questions? Thank you. Thank you.
Next, I have Health and Hope. Good morning. It's Larry Brooks with um Health and Hope. Um I'm their CIO or CTO and uh standing in for our for our ED. Um our project is is to uh to scale our existing infrastructure. Um the uh Narcan distribution network, mobile outreach and newly launched health and wellness center.
Uh we provide we provide Narcan to other organizations in the community in addition to opening up our facilities in addition to the the newly built health and wellness uh center that we that we just opened um to the community as well. So we're providing uh education. Uh we also have mobile outreach that we're doing and uh we're also providing um uh language translation services and education to to support um the additional uh communities that that that
we're out there to support as well. Yes, I have a question. Yes. Uh what what is their ask? 260,000. The suggested amounts 227,500. Okay. So, exactly what do you do um as far as to Okay. Our mission is for opioid abatement and so like currently what do you do that that deals with that? Uh we provide we provide we provide um education. We provide Narcan distribution. Um do you do
any treatment? No, we do not do any treatment. Okay. So, how would you en enhance our mission? the because I hear about the the the the health center and all that stuff, but we're not really tasked for a health center. We're tasked for opioid abatement that like you know that falls under like treatment and things of that nature. Nor can distribution that kind of falls into that. But at our core, we're there to kind of help to get people dealing with the opioid epidemic
situation, not really kind of, you know, to facilitate health centers for the community that and you know, saying there's a there's a space for that, but that's just not our mission. So, what will you do? So when you're asked, how does it directly help us to solve our issue? So, the uh the population that that we're that we're that we're reaching out to are typically
underserved um uh un uninsured and we have um so again like core core deals directly with people that either have overdosed or got got that's their core mission. they they're that's when they get that call that means somebody has dealt with is dealing with that issue. Um again how does your mission help us solve our issue directly? How would how would you doing
that do that out of everything you do? It doesn't have to be everything, but give me that something directly you do that goes directly to the core of what we do. We're we're part we're part of the uh the preventative the preventative side of that. Okay. And so how do you identify your your your individuals and what you're you're looking to that that you deal with that helps us with our issue? Uh one one good example is that uh rather than um some of the uh say for instance in our in our
dental suite we have um people that seek street drugs in l in in order to alleve pain and with the pharmacy that we have in house we're able to direct them away from those and provide um drugs that are provi provide um legal drugs so that they can have that pain abatement in addition to providing providing them with the dental services to assist to assist with that with that process.
So if someone comes into hope and health and they got they're coming in there for dental but then you identify a issue with uh opioids or drugs whatnot then what happens after that u I'm not able I'm not able to afford to pay for medicine so I can come to health and hope to one get the uh get the chief complaint taken care of. I don't have to seek street drugs in order to uh relieve the pain that I'm feeling from from those from those um um from that dental issue and I'm able
to go to the pharmacy there at health and hope and get access to free treatment or free drugs uh in lie of street drugs to um relieve that pain. Roger that. So once you identify that, then what happens to that person after that? Do you just give it to them and then they just kind of like go off willy-nilly and then they just come back afterwards and it's just a repetitive cycle? Uh and you don't really have a a a a system of getting them actual help. It's just kind of
like give them that for the moment and then what happens after that? Is there any There's there's a continuum. There's a continuum of care. We try we we stay in contact. We have an in-house EMR system, EHR system. So, we've got, you know, over 400 volunteer doctors that are providing their time and effort to ensure that those patients or the people that that come to the clinic to seek care are able to to get those. and those things that we cannot provide underneath our roof,
we're able to direct them to other uh facilities within the community um to uh to to provide the things that we ourselves can't do underneath our roof at zero cost. Last things. And who are your partners in the community that actually does that that if somebody has to go to that's a serious case and actually want to get weaned off, who do you who do you partner with? Who do you call to get them to that care? We're partnered with uh Baptist uh Ascension um Lake and and Lake and Lake View Center as well. Um, and rather than rather than uh a number of
those patients filling their ER, they're able to be we're able to divert some of that traffic um to Health and Hope Clinic to to seek that care and to get that free care and then forward them forward them back to um other services that we can't we can't actually provide. Roger that. Okay. Only reason I'm asking those questions because it's the first time we've ever ever seen y'all in the in the total of our existence. So, you know, point of getting to know you and this funding is going to be to help expand what uh the the the the existing services that we're
that we're providing. So, we we've already been doing uh quite a bit of this work. So, we're just expand expanding that. Okay. I'm a volunteer at Health and Hope. My name is Huntley Gimenez and um you know according to the Department of Health and Human Services, preventing substance use disorder is a first step to addressing overdoses. Um when patient when people don't have insurance, they're more likely to self-medicate like Larry was saying. Um if they're in pain, you know,
we provide dental care, full medical care. we can provide prescriptions um you know for whatever condition you know they're having issues with. Also um you know prevention is our main focus but also we're the Northwest um Florida's provider of Narcan. So we can provide in bulk and individual. So we are the provider to the other nonprofits. Should have led with that. See,
and we've been doing that. We want to continue to do that if we want to increase that service. And we do the training. We do um you know, Narcan training, CPR training, all those things, too. Okay. Real simple. That goes directly to the heart of our our mission. That's all I was. So, when you kind of threw me off when you saying like you wanted to do a community gym or something, I'm like, and we have a new health and wellness center that provides um mental health counseling. And we as a volunteer um I see on every patient visit we do do a mental health assessment for
each patient and we can identify problems early and get them the help they they need early. Okay. So you're the Northwest Florida Narcan provider. Yes. Okay. Roger that. Got that? Yeah. All right. Thank you. I'll work on my presentation next time. Thank you. Thank you. I'm just simple and country man. I just like you know direct to the to the situation. So thank you sir. Roger that. Do you have any other questions? That's it. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Hope and fear.
I am Stephanie Shepard, the executive director of Hope Above Fear. Hey Stephanie, how are you? Long time no see. You've been busy. It's been busy. Yes. So, that's good. How you doing? I am excited to be here. Excellent. I'm so glad to see you back. So, um All right. So, our um application primarily is covering um staffing programs. Um two of our programs, our choose your story, which is our prevention program. um and better without it, which is a new diversion program
that we are well our first class actually is this week um in partnership with the Escambia County Public School District. Um and then in addition education um with our with billboards and another video that will be designed by youth um for youth um and then I think it's some of the others was a small portion for administrative cost and um lensure and training. The better without it program is a program that we are utilizing from South Florida from Bvard County and so there's a
small fee in that and then also just bringing the executive director from Bvard County Prevention Coalition back to Escambia County to do another workshop and training. Good. Good. Well, you know, glad to see you back from the first time you came. Most of y'all probably don't know Stephanie's story, but Stephanie came for us when we first started. And she had a super impactful story. And uh all Steph was looking for was help for her son when he was going through school. And she
couldn't provide it here. She couldn't find it here in Escambia County. And she had to send him off and back and this and forth. And it was just it was it was tragic. Super tragic. And before she could find him help in the lie of he end up passing from opioid addiction and from op over overdose which set her on fire which set her out to start what she's doing now.
um you know in lie of when she first came um she's been hard at it and uh so proud to see you back. So proud to see that you actually have brought to fruition what you first started out to do because that's a very hard thing to do to go from conception to reality and not only go from reality but to actually put the guts and the work behind it and to actually stay at it. So so proud of you and uh so proud of your organization, your team hopefully to meet your team one day. Uh maybe
the next meeting bring them and uh so glad to see you. So glad you haven't you haven't given up to make a difference in other other kids. And you're in the public school system now, huh? That was a tough one, but we're there. Yeah. Yeah. Here it's Scambia County. I got to have some talks with the uh some of the uh people that I know that sits on that board. is like, why is it so hard to get drug training in our school systems? That is unbelievable. I that is just unconscionable. But you're there and thank you for everything you're doing and uh I know you're going to be great. So,
thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you. Next, we have Lake View Cat. Good morning. It's Patty Hyde. I'm from Lake View. I'm the director of family-based intervention services. Um, just an update on the CATIM program. Uh, we have hired a case manager. Um, and so she begins today. We're real excited about that. Now, we're fully staffed. Um, we'll be able to expand
our group. Um right now we are working mostly with the task um kiddos that come from DJJ. Um we are opening up to the clinical part of it. The task um families uh mainly just participate in the group process. They don't particularly want people in their home to provide therapy services. And so now we're starting to receive uh referrals from those who do need the therapy services. We have
a therapist going into the home doing individual therapy, doing family therapy, especially around like conflict management, uh which is right developmentally appropriate for teenagers, but when there's substances involved, whether it's from the teenager or the family themselves, we work do a lot of work with conflict resolution. Um what else? the ask we had in our new um um application. Uh the two highest needs what that we thought were highest needs. One was the travel. Uh
it was pretty extensive and um and I understand you know that you have so many people that have applied. The um um intent of it is that usually transportation is the number one barrier for not just adults but for kids getting to treatment, getting to group and so we provide our group after school hours so that they can access it. Um but we also uh try to send out a van, a Lake View van um
to different parts of the city where parents can drop their kids off. it's just maybe right down the block from them instead of 10 miles down the road. And so we try to pick them up and deliver them at before and after group. Um the other one is for a support staff, a part-time support staff. Uh last year in our application, we had requested an RN uh case manager that we were never able to hire and uh so we requested to shift that to a um regular case manager. Um, and then with the
savings left over, hire a part-time uh um we call it admin assistant, but it has nothing really to do with administration so much as because we are out on the road a lot, we just need somebody to be able to answer the phone and direct referrals and um um keep up with that kind of stuff. Um and so it it really came out to the same amount last year. when we when we requested that in uh June or July, we were told we couldn't hire the um support staff this year because it wasn't in
our application. So, we put it in next year's application, but that was declined. And so, um I just wanted to make sure y'all understood it's in the grant, it's in the application itself, what that support staff does. And um so really, it was not a uh higher amount of money. It just went for a different person is all. Um, do you have any questions for me? Those were the main points, but there are others if you ask me questions. I'm good. Patty, how you doing? I'm good. How are you?
Good. You guys been hard at it. Congratulations on your new hire or not. And so with that new hire, so that's going to help you to increase your your I guess people that you see by approximately how many? I'm sorry. How many about how many that with the increased staffing that you would be able to to you know to see right now we're seeing with the the reduced staff we were able to see seven to nine people. Um and now this will help us get up to the full the
um uh what's different about our program than a lot of others is we do uh community treatment. We're considered community based. So, we go to their homes, we go to the schools, um, and we do transport. And so, that means all most of our staff are out in the community. And there's nobody at a desk, let's say, or a standard phone that can um people can call and ask questions. they network with with our schools and say, "Hey, you know, um uh if you have uh this uh population,
um let me send you some brochures or some flyers and I can schedule you uh one of our team members to come out to your school and give give a a presentation." Okay. And uh your age group is from what age group? Uh right now, so it's a little bit different next year. Right now we we said uh 5 to 18 and the reason it's 5 to 18 is we hope to impact family uh kids whose families use of substances impact their um function in school across systems. Uh next year in our new
application we requested 13 to 21. 21 18 to 21 is really our sweet spot. That's when kids um that maybe they have been in there for at 16 or 17 and then when they turn 18 they we're free, we're doing it, you know, and then but at 19 they they say I can't keep a job. I need to come back to y'all, Miss Patty. Um and so some some of those clients are our most successful. Okay, sounds good. Thank you all. You're so welcome. And uh you should get with Stephanie, man. and Stephanie, you should get with Miss Patty because you can see how you guys could be a benefit to each other
um as far as what you do um and age groups that you guys uh try are trying to impact. So, we actually hook up uh some of our clients from uh our continuum of care with her group. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. The next we uh we have ministry village.
Hey, I'm Stephanie and I'm from Ministry Village. Uh we're seeking funding for um our carers house, our women's recovery home. Uh we're seeking for an in-house substance abuse counselor, also a case manager, um educational materials, um staff training and certifications, and then also um we're seeking funding for our project reconnect, specifically those um that are trying to travel out of town to go to recovery centers. So So the funding that you are asking for, so of that is going to be a case manager, you said? Yes. And what's the other person? and then an in-house
substance abuse counselor, an actual licensed substance abuse counselor. Whether their salaries um I believe it was our ask is like 93,000. Okay. For both of them or one? No, that's just for the in-house substance abuse counselor. And then for the case manager, I believe it was 50,000. Okay. and that in-house substance abuse counselor. They're going to hold a they're going to meet with um each lady individually once a week and then they'll also hold group counseling sessions with
them as well. So is that a person with a masters or a is that a person like with a like what that counsel that's that's almost 100,000 a year? I'm not exactly sure like this the schooling on that. probably I haven't ly okay I don't know okay all right sorry you know cuz everybody's throwing around this counseling word today and you know in different spaces and without a whole lot of credentials
behind them. So, um, just, you know, when you get up to about that 100,000 for one person, you kind of, you know, kind of want to make sure that they have certain kind of credentials or whatnot behind them. All right. Good. Thank you. Thank you. Is there someone here for offensive or Okay, that was the profit one. No. Okay. Um
because the next one every reap, sorry about that. Good morning, Benny Webs, executive director of Re-entry Alliance Pensacola. Uh with me today is Melinda Heim. Uh Melinda has a master's uh in nursing. She is my executive assistant. Uh the nature of our program is pretty simple. Uh we propose to have two houses uh one for men, one for women staffed with a case manager in each one of those along with a peer review
uh specialist that will be residing inside those premises. The idea is to work with individuals for the most part that have been referred to us from other organizations uh working with this core uh uh referrals from uh uh the various hospitals that we kind of partner with and to work with those people on a uh residential basis. And so the the monies and what you're asking for, is it for just the staffing or I see you? No,
it it covers uh the rental for the two houses, one for each of those. All right. For a year's worth rental, and then uh staffing a a uh a case manager for each of the houses, and then a peer specialist uh for each of those houses. And and um how many people in those homes would will be able to how many people will you be able to facilitate? We we are projecting right now a total of 15 between
those two houses. Uh and then as they cycle through the program we're expecting probably a three cycle period during the course of a year. So every roughly every four months there's going to be a new batch. That's right. Okay. So, new batch of 15 each throughout the each each period. That's correct. So, you have a So, you actually have a recovery program already in place. Yes. Uh the
history for re-entry alliance Pensacola for the last 13 years. Uh we've been providing re-entry services for men and women who have been returning from incarceration. About uh three years ago, we we added uh uh uh working with people that were uh described by HUD as homeless individuals. And so we have a considerable amount of experience in this field. I can tell you basically that probably right now with the individuals that we we started out in the re-entry program, about 75% of those people have some kind of of of pre uh a history of addiction problems. Most of them also
have some kind of mental health issues and and so uh although we aren't providing those kind of services, we work very closely with a number of local agencies, some of whom you've heard heard about already. Uh and so our goal is to get these people in uh get them the initial help that they need and we will pick them. A lot of these people will be coming from like the emergency rooms and stuff like that and and need a place to go into. So your biggest goal is to facilitate the housing part of the situation, not really the treatment part. That that is that is correct. So once you
I'm just trying to figure understand the process. So once you get these people in um how do you where's the resources come from from housing them? Okay. Where do the resources come from housing? uh our experience right now rep uh right now we have 22 houses uh 20 of those are in Escambia County there are two houses over in Santa Rosa County uh we have a we have a good relationship with a number of uh local landlords and uh marketing representatives so so we've we've we've
had a good history of working with these people so we feel like there's no difficulty at all in getting getting the houses that we need and and uh getting the referrals regretfully there's a lot of a lot of potential clients to be coming into those. So when these people enter these houses, would would they have to pay you rent for being there? The reality is most of these people probably will have difficulty doing that in the initial stages. Uh we have in the past established a program whereby the first period of time that they're with our program, whether it's the re-entry program and the homeless program, uh we don't charge them for it. Then once they get
stable, then we'll figure out what they can afford and we'll start charging for that. Okay. So, but we're not tasked for like re-entry and and homelessness. We're tasked with opioid abatement and treatment. So, I'm trying to figure out Okay. Uh where in that particular role will you help us meet our care versus housing and you know being basically a hopefully not a rental facility for people that's transitioning like where and what you do directly help us to achieve our goals
like in and track and not only that but also real time tracking like hey this person came in they had this issue this is what we did and Now, this is what's going on with them. And I go back to core because core got a hell of a tracking program that they can track from start to finish. And so I I I hope that everyone here understands that, you know, that that's what needs to be done, especially when you're dealing with these funds because we have specific guidelines that we must go by and we need specific outcomes that must be be met and we must be able to quantify that and
be able to show and prove that because I have to go before people that appointed me to this board and give a report. and so versus money just going out. So my question to you is how are you going to be able to not only to track you know and to document that track that and follow up with the results of that particular individual versus just a pass through you know like them just passing through your space and then it's just kind of like what happened and there's nothing there
to quantify that. Okay. and and I appreciate uh the need to try to explain to that. Um we see ourselves as an individual who has has been treated in an emergency situation coming out of uh a hospital emergency room or some other other facility that needs a place. These people do not have a place to stay. They don't have any guidance. And so we step in at that point in time and and we provide them with case management and a peer support specialist that can help them. Our
goal is not to keep those and provide, you know, a forever situation. We expect that they'll be in, they'll get some immediate care and treatment, uh, counseling, guidance, and then they'll be able to move to the next step. So, it's it's really designed to be a transitional program, taking people that are just being released from an emergency situation or referred to us from core and moving forward with that. Will you charge them rental to stay there? Uh at this point in time, I can tell you that uh in in our request for funding, in other words, we can't I don't think
it'd be great for us to subsidize housing that you're going to enter turn around and charge a person to stay at that house that you're getting subsidized from the board because our main thing is treatment like and that's just that would be that's well you out of our scope. Well, let me let me when people say transitional housing, that's exactly what it means. like, okay, you're going to stay here for a period of time, but this is going to be your rental payment while staying here. The
uh the amount that we we projected and and was only at least temply uh considered was like $21,000, I think it was $24,000, $25,000 rental for the two houses. And you can tell that using current market rates right now that would probably would not be enough to have two houses that would house like 15 people. So I would expect that there will be some charges. And I I think that this is kind kind of uh go along with the concept that an individual has got to be starting to carry
their own weight. It's not designed to be a uh a free ride for anybody. And so we're going to step in and and take them from that hospital room, emergency room, put them in a place, get them some guidance at that point in time, and then then move move forward so they can be on their own. Okay. Um I I can't support that. Um and the reason being is because
I can't consciously support subsidizing a situation in which you're going to turn around and tell that person that they have to pay to stay there. That's the whole I I mean I I'm just not I can't wrap my head around that particular thing now. Um, I I just, you know, can I might I interrupt a minute? Mr. Wibs,
is it not true that a large percentage of people you have coming into your re-entry program are addicted to drugs? A very high percentage have that history or are currently addicted. That's correct. And I did not hear you say you're going to charge a permit from day one. No, we didn't anticipate doing that. And I think it's important as part of part of the what I'm going to call the the progressive, you know, situation. They they may be flat on their feet, no no money whatsoever, they need some help immediately as they're coming out of that emergency room is a good example. They
need some help right off the bat. Uh as they get stable, if if the if the program is working as it should work, they'll get to the point where they have some income they can and they can move forward. And that's kind of the concept of it. But it's not relying upon them paying income to stay there. Okay. Uh I might just also Liz, y'all went through all this, right? And how many hours did you say y'all did with this? Well, we had two meetings. The second meeting itself was over two hours. I think for for Vinnie's program, they did ask, to your point, Mr. right is they did ask for
the house so the rent the utilities the water to be covered by this grant and again our our uh agreements only a year long. So as they put people in these two houses they should not be charged any rent. Now when they transition out part of the case management absolutely is to figure out how do we get you a job? How do we get you benefits if you qualify for them? Because they're going to have to transition out and pay income and become a a citizen obviously
at some point. But in this housing, correct me if I'm wrong, Vinnie, it it should be the rent, the utilities, the water will be paid by the grant for that year. That's not what he said. He said there's some point that they're going to basically pay. He didn't say that, okay, that no one standing in these houses is not going to have to pay anything. He said that at some point there's going to be an ask. And so what does that mean? Is that means 30 days in there's an ask? You know, like where what does that mean? And so I think it has to be and I'm not against helping him, but I
don't think the language is clear enough to make a decision right now. What I like to do is table his ass to the next meeting and get something in writing with you all concrete with the county that hey there should be no rental payments from any any occupants of this dwelling while they're going through this particular and this dwellings is for this particular program. In other words, you can't take somebody that's just want to be transitional housing, stick them in there,
and then kind of like they're paying you and you're taking up bedding from a person that's really that needs to be treatment because we need to stay zoned in on our mission cuz there's, you know, there's people with a lot of different missions and they're try to wrap around their mission into our mission and it needs to be directly stated in a contractual agreement. there would be no charges for people that are entering into because it's it is being subsidized by this monies and I don't think that's you know that's like double dipping and so we we're not going
to you know I can't support that V so is is your understanding for your ask it was $25,680 would that cover the full year of rent utility water we expect that that would be less than would be be covered but reap would accept that responsibility uh for anything more than that amount. Okay. So, we can build that into our agreement for sure. Okay. I I also think that um I'd like to request job descriptions for each of these positions because you did bring up a good point. You know,
a case manager to somebody might not be the same as a case manager to another. So, um, whatever you guys vote to go forward, um, we'll we'll get job descriptions and and what the qualifications are for those positions so that we know that the salary is common for our area. Right. Right. Um, so this is what I like to do. I'd like to uh make a motion to table the REAp um ask till the next meeting so we can kind of get some clarity with the communications
on what's expected of uh REAp, how that is supposed to be done and what's not supposed to be done as far as charging people to be in these this and it what's these houses in which we're ask that they're asking for specifically what they're to be utilized for and that's for opioid treatment abatement and getting people to transition off and some kind of defined way of of uh of a program like Min Ministry Village. They have kind of like a defined way of transitioning
out and they have a path and so it's just kind of obscure right now of like you're getting there because you've came before. So we we're building. We just got to get some definess because again um we're tasked with a certain objective. And I know there's a lot of different ways that you can help people. I understand a person with substance abuse may have this issue, that issue, this issue, this is but however, we're here to deal with a certain issues and that's what we must stay on task with.
I have a question. Yes. Go ahead, Liz. This is for you. Did not all these groups that you're coming back with suggestions that y'all reviewed and you feel that it fits criteria for the what this board is? We did. Um, we did not request specific job descriptions or anything like that. Um, and it was specifically for folks to stay. I'm familiar with REAp. I kind of know how their process goes, so I have a little bit of an advantage. But yes, all of their applications did meet the intent of the
um of the opioid abatement funding. Um and we like I said, we were very consistent. We only agreed to pay rent or utilities if there was actually people in need receiving those services. So like if somebody asked for uh office space rental, we did not approve any of that. it had to be, you know, physically people who are in need staying in these locations for us to assist with something like that. Um, I don't think it's out of the ordinary to to request that if we are going to subsidize. Um, but I think also part of the case management is making sure
these folks can get jobs and they can get income and that they, you know, can become functioning uh citizens of our society. So um and we can you know outline that however we can but yes we we went through that very extensively. Well thank you. And they specifically um partner with some other agencies that provide the actual treatment for participants or for those that stay there. So yes and they did provide letters of support. I know that they work with our core team. They work with Lake View. They work with opening doors. They're they're very involved with all the
partners. Great. Thank you. Any other questions? Tell them the process of getting certified. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. Next we have the YMCA. Hold on just a second if you could. Where do we stand on that issue? The reap at this point. Well, I just I I made a motion that we into when we get the language cleared up
as far as the rental that we table the the reap ask until the next meeting. That was my my uh my motion. So, until they get with Elizabeth and we get some clarity on the language and the um what's going to be the um um the rules of engagement with that funding because I'm not comfortable going into it without clear language that says, you know, a person that's coming into that stand in these dwellings cannot be charged rental agreement. Right now,
that language is not there. And just to be clear, the the specific one is around the rental, right, piece of it, which is the majority of theirs. Okay. Okay. So, there's a motion on the table. Do I have a second? Not denying them, just to the next to the next meeting until they come back once they get together and clear clear the language on on the uh direction of how it's to be utilized. and their year will not start until the contract is executed. So if if they
are pushed back, they'll get more time than everybody else. Just so you know, I have a question. If the motion dies, then can I can we move forward on listening to the rest of them and then at that time push everything back if we choose to do that? Okay. I don't have a second. So, I'm going to that
motion dies. YMCA, if you would come up and give us your presentation. Uh I'm Jennifer Barers with the YMC of Northwest Florida. So we are seeking funding to bring a community as medicine group program to the area. This community as medicine program was developed 10 years ago by clinical psychologists um from an organization called open source wellness. We are looking to partner with community health in in terms with their core program where they would refer individuals to this
program. So the community as medicine program is led by board certified health and wellness coaches and um consists of four aspects which is physical activity, mindfulness, um nutrition and then small group coaching. So what we're looking to do is run this program three times throughout the next year and reach approximately 50 to 60 individuals. So again, this would be individuals would be referred from the core program through community health and it would help them to develop more autonomy,
healthy habits to hopefully avoid um any relapses or um other health issues that that may occur. So most of the funding goes towards staffing for the health coaching. So we have to get them board certified as well as just general staffing costs to run the program. And then in addition, once they complete the program, we are offering a 12-week YMCA membership and also um sessions with the YMCA navigator to help them learn how to make connections within the area, different resources
that are offered, and also just utilizing the facility and making connections. Are there any questions? Do you guys want to hear from Walter on this as well? Sure. Since it's coming from his core group, there is an intent behind the circle. Yeah. So thank you again. So the intent of this is so we've got um you know in credit to the core program it has grown substantially and our our mechanism of care is we we get you in hopefully get you stabilized on the MAP medication and then
the ultimate goal is to start titration down. Part of that and instrumental towards titration on the medication and fully integrate full integration in the community is is community connection. And so this is almost a a um the intent is a staged step down. So as we start to um pivot people out from more intense care within the core treatment model. So they start with EMS, they come to us, we want to be able to refer directly in to this program. And um our our our partnership in this
what we're going to be looking at is um layering in the medical support. So, um, some of these classes will be coll-located, um, in our clinic, um, in some of our sites. And so, we're looking at at innovative ways, not only for them to have their health coaches, but there's going to be that behavioral health aspect, medical care to where essentially startup costs, launch, we figure out a way to work with YMCA to build to bill um, if allowable, and then um, we pay for it moving
forward. So it would be a service that we would act uh we would provide to our patients um through core um moving forward. So this is the startup cost because it's going to take us honestly about a year to figure out a way that we can um basically cut YMCA a check um so that we have this as a support for the core patients. I hope I I didn't make that clear as mud. Any questions?
Absolutely. So, it's it's it's a step down. So, again, we start really intense resources with the EMS side for those couple weeks. They come to us again, we leverage in those really intense resources, but we don't just want to pivot someone and say, "Hey, come see us. So long." this is kind of that that filling in that gap to kind of step them down. Um and and we know well I'll speak my personal experience one of the biggest parts of my own recovery was finding my community finding my
connection finding my people and when you look at the model of community uh um community is medicine that is the model. So it's it's you know the antenna is the individuals you know they've they've gotten stabilized on their meds they're housed. they're working, but they really haven't found that third place. They haven't found that support network. And so then we would pivot them into this. And the model has demonstrated um that it helps support them through that transition.
You know, I hate to be the uh the assignment of American Idol. [Laughter] You all are really taking us out of our scope with some of these ask. You're you're you're I'm not going to say you're crossing line, but you're you're we're we're really kind of pushing because I don't really remember seeing YMCA memberships in our core.
um outline. I I I just don't I just don't remember seeing that part in it. I understand the idea of continuous treatment, but at but at some point, you know, you core, you do a great job, you get it there, boom, boom, boom, you got the transition out, they back working, they they all of that.
So, my question is, and you're saying this is the startup. So I have a question wall you know uh so out of your reallocation that you came up here in the beginning why couldn't that been reallocated to do this program. I my understanding with the grant approval that went through the BOCC is that we could only reallocate within specific line items that were the initial grant. And so for us to try to
reallocate and go into this um that's essentially a new grant narrative. Um I know initially when we were talking about even working with YMCA on this, we wrote the grant as us being the primary on it and then when we really looked at it, we said that doesn't make sense because it ends up just being a pass through. And so um and and kind of thinking that through, you know, this is the YMCA program. We come in as we've got the referral source for the patients that need the care. But I'm I'm not
understanding what what is YMCA gonna if the person is already been went from through the core through the other treatments and they're already you know I I'm just not understanding see where outside of you know you said health and well what is I just don't understand what what what what does this program even does what does it even do? So it's a 75 minute
program with 12 to 16 people in it and they meet every week and um so like I said it was developed by open source wellness and they go through basically their four pillars are move, nourish, connect and be and the biggest piece of it is the community building. So they're learning from board certified health coaches and from each other how to make healthy choices, build healthy habits, be sustainable and more autonomous in what they're doing um for their overall well-being. What? But don't they get that coming through all the other programming? I'm just not understanding. It's like
a overlap. I mean, like like why go all the way through the core program and don't isn't that part of the the the case management and the all the other stuff preceding to coming to this program. So I mean it it's it'll be a entire waste of monies to go through a program and a person still don't understand healthy habits at the end and they get all the way to the end and you tell them they got to go to another program to understand healthy habits. What what is case management? So
from a a case management perspective for us. So, we we operate under me a medical case management. And the and the difference is is you've got a p a I don't want to say power imbalance, but you know, we're professional case managers. We're going all over all of these things. And so, this is almost a you know, when we say coaches, this is a peer support le continuum. But you have peer support for substance use. And that's their focus on substance use. Um and when you how do I say that?
So we've got what 375 core patients. Um this is giving that more intense. So every core patients works with our our our peer support specialists. But again, we're we're we're putting out fires. We're just trying to keep people sober. This is kind of a a handoff to the next group that can really dive in. um with more nuance things and and just to be completely honest um dive in in areas
that that our our peer support specialists and our case management just can't get to. Um and it's not and and it's not unique to us. Um I I think that's across the board. If I um it's been about a year since I've been in direct case management, but I managed 120 different patients as one case manager and there was always stuff I wish I could do more. I just didn't have enough time. And this is and to be clear too, this is startup and this is once it's funded and start up, it's a
resource that's going to be in the community and continue to grow. So this is again going back to one time startup cost. Boom. It's here. There's a this is um community is medicine is a resource that will be available. What is it called again? What's the name of it? Community medicine. Yeah. Community community with medicine. And so you said it's a startup. So how does it get funded thus going forward? I mean everyone says it's everyone says that coming in. That's where we come in with
um so billing. So one of the things is we we've talked about colllocating it at our um clinic site at Palifox 2. We've got other pokers in the fire that I can't but that's we've got clinical spaces there and so it's it's a resource. So we bring somebody in. Let's say you've got your monthly checkup. You you're you're co you're coming in for your monthly checkup. You're going to your community is medicine class. Your therapist may be there as well. And so having that resource for us, we're sustaining it and we're going to pay the cost. The the idea,
the business model is we pay the cost of the community is medicine class for our patients because we're bringing them in and able to provide medically necessary care um for the continuation of their care. Yeah. I seen in the thing in the but I ran off and left my sheet, but I seen like money's in for kitchen staff and No, that's not for this. That wasn't okay. Okay, I'm looking at the wrong corrector. Okay. Uh Okay. I think Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Um John, okay. Just a quick question. Is this just a continuum of care providing? Okay. Uh
I don't know. I'm I'm not so opposed to it. I'll put it that way. I would like to say I'm not opposed to it. When you deal with a subst someone that's addicted, truly addicted, you can't send them through treatment. A lot of times it's not one time at treatment and it is a continuum of care. You do want them to be connected to the community for them to be successful. I see this as a perfectly flowing right into that and making that connection. So, I'm definitely not opposed to it. Um, like I said, I've seen it in substance use programs. They have these type of services
that they provide. And so what happens after they leave your program? So that's part of why we added the 12 weeks of the YMCA and having a navigator to help, you know, build connections within the YMCA. So the hope is that, you know, they'll stay connected um with the coaches that they met, with the navigator that they met, with the people in the program. Um but yeah, so essentially it's 12 weeks in the community as medicine, and then 12 weeks in the YMCA. So a good amount of support. So when you're dealing with substance use and someone that's truly addicted,
they have to change everything about them lives, their lives to be successful. So their whole core group of friends that they were using drugs with, they have to totally get away from that. And this helps bridge that gap. So it connects them to the community. So that's a little short of six months, uh 12 weeks. Um so and how many people at one time does this service? Our goal is to um have 12 to 16 people in each group and run three groups in the whole year.
Okay. So it it comes out when you when you and I'm an ROI number. What's the return on investment? I think the ask is around 76,000. Um about 12 to,300 a person, but again think globally 12 to 13 a person. one-time funding, this program stays around for years, your ROI. So, you know, your your cost goes down, your ROI gets bigger, right? I understand. Yes. Um because I I I do
business on a daily basis. And that's why I have these questions around numbers and things of that nature. And so, all right. But my last last thing is last concern is you said it's going to be in the community for years. And so my question is, you're saying it's going to get funded down the road, and my question is, if that's the case, why couldn't you have funded it now? Because it's startup cost. So we we want to be able to get the billing in place. I mean, that's that's it.
It takes us I mean when we look at the way that um I was trained to to to write grants and look at program implementation um in in p in public health spaces is the biggest thing is if you can get startup costs and you have a business model for sustainment um that gives you time to get the billing in place because again and I understand say look look Walt you come up you you're like the representative for three situations now you cannot suck up all the opioid budget but
uh opioid budget. You got Northwest Florida got core and now you're talking about uh YMCA Walt. Come on now. So, I'm just saying when you add all those up in a in one ask, those are pretty much that would almost suck up the entire what we have right now. When you look at those three combined, not to when you look at your initial ask for Northwest Florida
core with their ask and then you know you look cherry on top of YMCA. It's not almost but it's of that one point of that one. We're not asking for any money this year. Community health isn't the the half is from the last last session. Okay. All right. Wow. We we intentionally because I remember your questions last year and said, "Hey, is this one time?" And I said, "Yes, this is an this is" and so we did not come. Okay. All right. I've just seen you a lot this year. That's all. I come to
All right. All right. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for answering that question. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions? All right. Um, so we can vote on these. We can How does the board want to move forward as far as Okay, I'm going to make one quick one simple motion. I'm going to motion to approve um everyone except reap coming back our next meeting with the with the language
that you all get together and uh get hashed out and so we can uh let reap reap and um and then we move forward and everybody have a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Do I have a second? I have a question of Mr. Wibs. Yes, sir. Uh, first off, we haven't set a date for our next meeting, and it probably would be in
January, I'm guessing. Uh, how would that impact you if we were to just delay this decision until then? under the term terms that were proposed to us uh nothing would would count. We could not spend any money would not incur any expense until after a contract has been has been reached. And so if you said where is it we will be in a hold pattern. Uh I recognize that there's a problem with that for individuals. The sooner we get started the more we can more people that
we can help. Uh but I mean we won't be able to do anything at all until till we do this. And like we have not signed any any lease agreements or anything at this point in time. Okay. Would the first Monday of uh December be out of the question? It's it's the first 1st of December.
My calendar's good for the for the 1 of December. Um, my calendar is good for the 1st of December. That's the 5th or the 1st. Um, Monday the 1st. Monday the 1st. Yes. Monday the 1st. We can clear the year and everything will be swell. Can you guys get together by then? I'm sure we can. Okay. And then probably have the job descriptions also by then. Thank you. Okay. I will reluctantly move with Tommy. I just think that we tked the
staff to come with recommendations and now we're kind of questioning their recommendations as to, you know, I don't want to have to do all the leg work that they had to do. So, well, that's what we're here for, Chief. We're here to um kind of drill down a little bit. And I don't think they would bring anything in front of us that they didn't think fit the criteria. Well, sometimes, you know, all questions aren't asked and sometimes there's not there's some obscurities that has to get get cleared. Have a good Thanksgiving, Tom. Okay, we have a motion and a second. All in favor? I meeting Let me double check. I can't say that.
Is there any other new business? I just want to tell Tom. I love you too, Chief. Our next meeting will be December the 1st in the middle of the love fest. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.