Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo speaks alongside Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington’s first opioid policy coordinator, Jackie Corbally, on Thursday. Photo by Morgan True/VTDigger
It was the first official meeting of a recently formed working group that has given itself the lofty mission of bringing an end to the opioid crisis in Burlington and Chittenden County.
“There will always be drug use, but it doesn’t have to be a crisis,” said Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo. “Things are a crisis when they’re unpredictable and pose an imminent threat to a large portion of the population.”
The CommunityStat team, as the group is known, plans to use a collaborative data-driven model that has been employed around the country to address challenges cities face.
The chief, who has been on the job for just over a year, is the impetus for the new group, having floated the idea six months ago as a way to bolster ongoing efforts at the state and local level.
Del Pozo is familiar with the Stat model from the nearly two decades he spent with the New York Police Department, where the system was developed and first put to use. He introduced the concept to group members at an informal meeting in September.
The model has four basic components or principles for addressing a problem, the chief said at a Thursday news conference after the group’s first official meeting. Those are timely and accurate information gathering; development of effective responses; rapid deployment of resources; and relentless follow-up and assessment of outcomes.
Cathy Aikmen, policy director for the Chittenden County Opioid Alliance, described it as “collaboration on steroids.”
“I think people are very ready to have these conversations, not in the parking lot, but around the table with their partners,” said Jane Helmstetter, director of the Agency of Human Services Burlington field office.
CommunityStat will fall under the Chittenden County Opioid Alliance umbrella. Members include city and state government agencies, the University of Vermont Medical Center, Howard Center, United Way of Northwestern Vermont, Spectrum Youth and Family Services and many others. The alliance’s $300,000 budget is paid for with grants, said Martha Maksym, United Way executive director.
The Chittenden Clinic in South Burlington. File photo by Morgan True/VTDigger
“We have an epidemic in this country, in this state, in this city. People are dying. Kids are being taken from their homes. People are being incarcerated. Families are being ripped apart,” said Jackie Corbally, Burlington’s first opioid policy coordinator, who was recently hired to help lead CommunityStat.
Corbally’s position was included in the city’s budget. In addition to helping set policy, Corbally will work out of police headquarters to try to ensure that when people with addiction are arrested or land on officers’ radar, they get treatment or support services.
Corbally, who has been in her new role for five weeks, worked as a manager for the Vermont Department of Health’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs. More recently she was director of clinical services at Maple Leaf Treatment Center in Underhill.
The CommunityStat team is still deciding what metrics it will use to measure success, said Mayor Miro Weinberger, but he pledged to eventually provide an information dashboard, so the public can track outcomes and hold the program accountable.
Group members said the greatest obstacle in bringing the opioid crisis under control is the continued waitlist for treatment at the Chittenden Clinic, which is operated by Howard Center and serves all of northwestern Vermont.
Wait times have decreased in the last year as other medical providers have expanded their treatment infrastructure, but they still stretch for months. Group members said the goal is hours or days.
Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration plans to open a second methadone clinic in St. Albans, which officials say will help reduce wait times at the Chittenden Clinic. But a larger problem is finding qualified staff, said Catherine Simonson, chief client services officer at Howard Center.
The Chittenden County Opioid Alliance has a separate work group tasked with workforce development to help recruit and retain licensed professionals. Still, it’s a challenge for Howard Center and similar nonprofits around the state to pay substance abuse and mental health counselors competitive salaries.
Howard Center relies heavily on its contract with state government. Gov.-elect Phil Scott has said opioid addiction treatment will be a priority for his administration, but he has also pledged to cut $55 million from the state budget.
“At a certain point will we have new recent constraints? You know, maybe,” Weinberger said. “I think that will certainly be a fair question for another day.”
For now, Weinberger said a significant amount of money already is going toward treatment and cessation efforts, and CommunityStat is about ensuring that money is used wisely.
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