Buncombe County's START program told state funding will end; county plans short-term pivots

Rebecca Smith, a presenter for Buncombe County's START (Sobriety Treatment And Recovery Teams) program, told the board that the state has informed county staff it will stop providing a key funding stream for START "the end of May." "Recently, the state, came to me and said, we can no longer fund you. The end of May," she said during a July meeting presentation.

County officials said START historically relied on county funds, a governor's grant and later on state dollars that covered about 80% of program costs. Smith said the county initially covered a single START team at roughly $176,000 and later used a roughly $3,000,000 two-year governor's grant to expand to five dyads; she said the state's withdrawal requires near-term budget changes and contract renegotiations.

Director David (surname not provided) told the board that local budgets were built assuming state funding and that staff would bring budget amendments to the county commission to rebalance lines. "You're likely to see a flurry in coming weeks of RBAs coming before the county commission for us to do some line out transfers," he said. Rebecca Smith said the county has already tapped some opioid-settlement funds to preserve one position and will repurpose a current vacancy into a full-time role rather than request a new position in the budget.

Staff described ongoing talks with Healthy Blue (the managed-care plan identified in the meeting) about potential funding and noted contracts with Pyramid for several START positions that may be renegotiated. Smith emphasized uncertainty about long-term replacement funding: "We're looking at that as an option, but we don't have anything definite," she said. The presenters framed the effort as a negotiation with state officials and with health plans while seeking county-level budget actions to sustain core services in the short term.

The board did not take a formal vote on a specific funding amendment during the presentation; staff said they would return with RBAs and contract recommendations as options were developed.