The Board of Health for Madison and Dane County unanimously rejected a proposed three-year, $2.4 million contract with CAYA Clinic to operate a harm reduction drop-in center on Madison’s East Side.
The vote to indefinitely postpone the resolution approving the contract comes a day after Madison365 reported that CAYA Clinic, the organization recommended for the contract by 10 evaluators, submitted a proposal that included many false statements regarding community partnerships and budgeted money for subcontractors who had not agreed to participate.
Dane County Corporation Counsel Carlos Pabellon clarified that a vote to postpone the resolution indefinitely has the same effect as a no vote.
“The process here has caused a lot of questions and a lot of consternation, and I am concerned that pushing this forward at this time would further injure the trust of the public,” said Board Chair Jerry Halverson, who was also one of the evaluators.
Pabellon also clarified that the $2.4 million allocated by the Dane County Board of Supervisors for the proposed harm reduction center will remain in the budget of Public Health Madison & Dane County, which could reallocate it for other harm reduction projects in the future. The money came to the County in a settlement with opioid manufacturers and does not include taxpayer dollars.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us as a department to be better engaged and to help inform, from our perspective, based on the data and information and partners that we work with, how the funding could be or better distributed and used in the future,” said PHMDC Director of Community Initiatives Aurielle Smith. “One of the ways we would love to see that happen is through a comprehensive needs assessment process. There’s a lot of gaps. There’s a lot of needs around this work. People are hurting, and we can recognize that, but … we have not done that work as a department to really understand in a comprehensive way what the problem is and then produce recommendations for solutions to solve it. So from my perspective, I would really love to have the opportunity to do that.”
“True harm reduction work must be embedded in community trust and partnership,” Madison Alder Carmella Glenn said. “It requires authentic collaboration between service providers, people with lived experience, neighborhood residents, city officials and public health experts. A harm reduction drop in center is not merely a clinical facility. It is a community hub that must be integrated thoughtfully into neighborhoods. It serves with adequate planning for safety, support services and genuine community engagement. This current process has failed to build this foundation. Public Health Madison and Dane County must lead. The Dane County Board of Supervisors must trust Public Health Madison and Dane County, along with alders, to lead the strategic allocation of opioid settlement funds … PHMDC has the expertise, infrastructure and community relationships necessary to develop a comprehensive harm reduction strategy that serves our entire community effectively, rather than rushing to find a single organization through a compromised process.”
Smith said harm reduction work already underway under PHMDC funded through general purpose revenue would continue.
