Board allocates nearly $1 million in opioid funds to support two Shasta College programs

Yesterday, Shasta College made a successful pitch to the board of supervisors, which voted 4-1 to provide $889,000 over three years toward two college programs focused on opioid use prevention. The first is the community college’s Alcohol and Drug Studies program. The other is STEP-UP, a program that helps provide financial and logistical assistance to recently incarcerated students, a significant number of whom have been affected by substance use disorder.

The money to support those programs will come from the nearly $40 million Shasta County has or will receive as the result of a number of opioid settlement cases. According to the stipulations of the settlements, which have been given out to many jurisdictions nationwide, the money must be spent on any one of a number of approved opioid prevention and treatment needs. 

In Shasta, decisions about how local opioid funds will be allocated has been an ongoing process over the last year, with several youth organizations and healthcare providers bidding for their share of the funds. In addition to Shasta College, the board has allocated $4 million toward organizations focused on substance use prevention among youth, and $2.2 million toward the Good News Rescue Mission’s forthcoming drug treatment program.        

The agenda item promoting the use of opioid funds for Shasta College was sponsored by Supervisor Chris Kelstrom, who said he was inspired to support the college’s work after a past conversation with a STEP-UP graduate, who participated in the program as an alternative to jail time.

“She went through the STEP-UP program, she got some college credits and totally cleaned up. Now she’s a very productive member of society … ever since then, STEP-UP has kind of been my favorite program,” Kelstrom said.

During yesterday’s board meeting, Dean of Students Sandra Hamilton and STEP-UP program manager Robert Bowman collaborated on a presentation describing the two programs, and outlining how they would use opioid funds. 

Shasta College’s Alcohol and Drug Studies program was founded two years ago. It offers certificates in both alcohol studies and addiction studies, and is designed for students aiming to work in clinical settings that provide treatment for substance use disorders or work as counselors working with those affected. Hamilton noted that many people enrolled in the program are already teachers, therapists, or paraprofessionals who have returned to school in order to focus on this particular field of study. 

With the potential opening of True North, as well as other local Prop 1- funded treatment centers like Visions of the Cross and the Good News Rescue Mission, Hamilton added, the need for addiction specialists will likely increase.  

The college’s Alcohol and Drug Studies program includes an internship and Shasta College petitioned the board to use some of Shasta’s opioid funding to provide students a stipend for internship hours, equivalent to minimum wage. “We don’t want to see students go backwards in their financial standing as they’re getting ready to graduate and move into our job industry,” Hamilton said. 

Supervisor Allen Long inquired if the students themselves have to be personally affected by substance use in order for the county to allocate opioid money toward their education needs. In response, Deputy County Executive Officer Erin Bertain indicated that the approved spending outlined in opioid settlement documentation “also applies to increasing the availability of treatment within our area, regardless of whether those treatment providers have substance use issues.”

Shasta College’s STEP-UP program stands for Shasta Technical Education Program-Unified Partnership. It provides a specialized pathway for both formerly incarcerated students, and also those recovering from substance use disorder, to pursue technical training certificates or an associates degree with added support. The goal of the program is to reduce recidivism rates, which Bowman said are lower among STEP-UP graduates than the state and national averages. According to the presentation, 30% of students who have enrolled in STEP-UP have been impacted by SUD.

The program is facilitated in collaboration with the probation departments of Shasta, Trinity, and Tehama as well as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. But not all formerly incarcerated people who apply to STEP-UP can be admitted, Bowman explained, in part due to a lack of funding. 

“Every semester we turn away students,” he said. With the extra opioid funding, Hamilton indicated that STEP-UP could add an additional 25 students to the STEP-UP program per semester, at a cost of about $2000 each. “We like to give them wrap-around support,” Hamilton said. “To help buy some of their equipment and materials, make sure they have the laptops and technology they need, as well as helping to support their basic needs around food and transportation.”

Board members voted to approve funding for the two programs for a single year, with Supervisor Matt Plummer providing the only dissenting vote. He suggested that the board should only approve opioid funding to support the STEP-UP program, because in his assessment, it seemed that the Alcohol and Drug Studies program was functioning adequately with current funding sources and did not require additional support.  

Plummer added that he’d like the board to be more selective about the use of opioid money, advocating for using opioid dollars for Sheriff Johnson’s proposed expansion to the county’s Alternative Custody Program in future.

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