Salem City Council Considers $250,000 Opioid Treatment Program Using Settlement Funds

Spending $250,000 in opioid settlement funds for a new drug treatment and recovery program is among the considerations on the agenda for Salem city councilors. The program would be run as a pilot shelter and recovery program at Redwood Crossings, a 31-unit supportive housing development at 4107 Fisher Road N.E., and would include support for people experiencing substance abuse as well as help with mental health, housing, transportation, childcare, education and employment.

The city gets a steady drip of opioid settlement funds from a nationwide settlement reached in 2021 through lawsuits against major pharmaceutical distributors and manufacturers. The funds are allocated to help pay for programs to address opioid addiction and issues related to opioid addiction in the community. The Salem Police Department's Homeless Services Team, which responds to homeless encampments, and the city's Substance Use Prevention and Outreach Program, among others, are funded using opioid settlement dollars.

The conversation about addressing drugs and substance abuse started during the council's Monday, March 23, meeting when Salem City Manager presented a new city plan to find long-term strategies to help get people into drug treatment programs. Other city goals are preventing people from becoming addicted and strengthening law enforcement efforts to reduce the flow of drugs into the community. The new program is called the "Prevent, Treat, and Enforce" initiative.

Salem residents, in an October community survey, listed drug-related issues as a top issue they wanted the city to address. The effort is part of a larger city push to respond to concerns about cleanliness and safety that began last year when business owners demanded the city do something to address issues related to unsheltered homelessness and livability concerns.

At the moment, the initiative is focused on mapping out the existing resources at the city's disposal to address drugs, coordinating with partners, and identifying gaps within the system. On May 26, city staff will return to the council with suggestions for long-term strategies. The process is intended to unfold similarly to the city's Clean, Safe and Healthy Salem pilot program launched earlier this year, which successfully expanded police and cleaning crews downtown and in northeast Salem, and stood up a new fire department-run mobile crisis response team for at least six months.

Some of the gaps city staff identified in an early report include a lack of police officers dedicated to drug prevention and enforcement, a scarcity of resources for youth, and a lack of jail space and public defenders. The city manager pointed out that treatment is largely outside the city's purview, so partnerships will be critical to the plan's success.

Councilor Irvin Brown said he'd hope to see his ward in northeast Salem be the testing ground for any future pilot programs. He said it's an area where Salem's drug impacts are concentrated. Brown floated the idea of bringing back a dedicated police gang unit as one important step to addressing the issue in his ward and elsewhere. Police disbanded the unit in 2019.

Councilor Mai Vang said she'd hope that as the process unfolds that the city will seek to replicate its past successes. She pointed out the city's success with Salem's navigation center, a low-barrier homeless shelter at 1185 22nd St. S.E, that has seen half of its departing residents get into permanent housing. "I would love to see another navigation center with our community partners out in east Salem, northeast Salem, in the area with the most need," Vang said.

The navigation center hosts up to 75 people, while offering case management to stabilize their housing, mental health and employment. It's run by the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency. The shelter opened in 2023 after years of effort and escalating construction costs. The city of Salem invested $15.5 million to renovate and open the shelter, including about $4.8 million for two years of operation. The money came from the city's share of federal pandemic relief, state grants and funds from Marion County. Community Action Agency contributed $1.3 million. After June 2025, the city stopped funding the navigation center due to budgetary constraints. The center's operations are now funded by the state.