HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRSA Rural Centers of Excellence Substance Use Disorders - Greg 061623Greg Brotherton, Commissioner District 3
1820 Jefferson Street
PO Box 1220
Port Townsend, WA 98368
www.co.jefferson.wa.us
June 16, 2023
Ernest Fletcher
Fletcher Group, Inc.
601 Meyers Baker Road, Suite 238
London, KY 40741
RE: HRSA Rural Centers of Excellence Substance Use Disorders
Dear Dr. Fletcher,
I am writing to express my support of the Fletcher Group’s (FGI) application for renewal of the
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Rural Centers of Excellence (RCOE) on
substance use disorder (SUD). The partnership from the team at FGI has brought support and
opportunity to impact the lives of individuals and communities who are homeless and affected by
SUD in Jefferson, County, WA.
By continuing their funding renewal, you will enable access to knowledge and critical resources
that support us in developing services tailored to the specific needs of rural populations who
experience SUD. Their continued involvement in our HRSA rural county will support us in
developing a new area of focus in Washington state, Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) for
persons with SUD. While we currently have four Recovery Housing (RH) transitional units,
however, there is a shortage of both RH and PSH for SUD, it does not exist.
The Housing Fund Board did an initial needs assessment that indicates a severe need for
Permanent Supportive Housing for Substance Abuse. Currently there are only 28 units, and we
know that we need over 100 more units. To support our ongoing strategies, the Housing Fund
Board created a Coordinated Entry Advisory Board in April 2023, and it has members from all
entities that provide housing to or vouchers to the homeless population. They have met once and
have established priorities including (1) ensuring appropriate data sharing arrangements (2) an
agreed prioritization process and (3) assessing to ensure membership conforms to authorizing
regulations.
Phone (360) 385-9100 Fax (360) 385-9382 gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us
FGI’s expertise and comprehensive approach aligns well to provide the training, support, and
evaluation to establish these new resources. While our collaboration has leveraged existing
resources and has established leadership, we remain in great need of partners, like FGI, who
operate, locally, at the state, and nationally level, and who can translate and engage our
community for change.
Sincerely,
Greg Brotherton, Chair
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