Finance committee approves sheriff contracts: $175,000 opioid‑settlement social‑worker and six‑month nursing services with Eden Center

The Finance Committee on July 9 approved two actions related to the Sheriff’s Office: use of $175,000 in opioid settlement grant funds to contract a licensed social worker and a six‑month nursing services agreement with Eden Center for Integrative Care.

Under Resolution B the Office of Community Services awarded $175,000 in opioid settlement funds to the Sheriff’s Office to be used over three years for a contracted licensed social worker to provide crisis support, psychosocial assessment, resource coordination and referrals. The committee granted a waiver to hire a specific licensed social worker and the resolution specifies a monthly budgetary spending limit of $3,700 for planning purposes.

Separately the committee, following the recommendation of the Public Safety Committee, authorized a nunc pro tunc six‑month contract with Eden Center for Integrative Care to provide nursing services at the Washington County Jail for $262,282 covering July 1–December 31, 2026. The resolution notes the short term contract aligns future contracts to a calendar year schedule; the Finance Committee recorded no change in monthly cost for the six‑month term.

Both measures were moved and adopted during the meeting and appear in the committee’s resolutions list.