Grand Forks to transition current withdrawal management facility into low-barrier shelter

May 19—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks withdrawal management program will officially transition into a low-barrier shelter, meaning the program will accept almost anyone in need of a safe place to sober up. This will set it apart from other in-town programs with more restrictions, such as the Northlands Rescue Mission, which requires people who stay there to be sober.

The withdrawal management program, also known as social detox, has informally operated as a low-barrier shelter for several years. Katie Jo Armbrust, director of program development and advocacy at the Housing Authority, believes this highlights a need in the community the restructured program will now officially address.

In the

eight years the withdrawal management program

has existed, the biggest demographic it has served are those who are experiencing homelessness, Grand Forks Public Health Director Tess Wall said. As a result, sobriety requirements at other facilities often leave those in need with nowhere safe or clean to go.

As part of the restructuring, the program will move from Grand Forks Public Health into the Grand Forks Housing Authority. With approvals from both the

Grand Forks City Council

and the

Grand Forks County Commission

in the last month, the process of moving the program from Public Health into the Housing Authority can now begin. Much of the withdrawal management services are being transitioned to ShareHouse, a local treatment center.

The program was established in 2016 to address a broader lack of addiction services in Grand Forks, Armbrust said. The transition this year came organically, since that community need is better met than it was eight years ago, Armbrust said.

"Social detox has been fantastic and clearly addressed a previous community issue," Armbrust said. "We are kind of the perfect fit because we do want to get people housed and this provides us an opportunity to be more creative and flexible."

With the opening of additional facilities, like LaGrave on First, the access to supportive housing has improved, but there is still a lack of a dedicated low-barrier, short-term shelter in Grand Forks. The need has been filled by the withdrawal management center. However, because it's a withdrawal management center and not officially a low-barrier shelter, it is currently ineligible for the grants and funds available to those shelters.

The move is expected to make more sense logistically and fiscally, and is also expected to better serve the people who most frequently need the withdrawal management program, Wall said.

"How can we serve these people better and what are those barriers out there?" Wall said.

As the withdrawal management program has seen increased use as a low-barrier shelter, the Housing Authority has seen an increased impact from unsheltered homeless persons. Moving it into the Housing Authority and transitioning the program into an emergency shelter and moving the withdrawal management services into ShareHouse also provides for more services since Public Health isn't able to provide as many services as ShareHouse can.

Finding additional ways to fund the program continues to be part of the conversation, Armbrust said.

"Effectively and efficiently using local funds to serve the communities — that's why the adjustment is happening," Armbrust said. "It's fantastic having great partners to work with and saying, 'We're not experts on this, but how do we work together? How do we work with other community partners to make this a reality?'"

For the move, they received eight letters of support from various local organizations and state agencies, including the Grand Forks Police Department, Spectra Health and the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services.

"With the health and safety of individuals in mind, and in recognition of the change in service demand in Grand Forks, we commit to reallocating state funds from Grand Forks Public Health to the Grand Forks Housing Authority to meet local needs," the letter from the Department of Health and Human Services said.

During the transition, Northeast Human Services will provide interim withdrawal management support as ShareHouse expands its facility to meet the needs. The soonest people will see changes to the program will be later this summer, when the withdrawal management services transition officially happens. The staff of the withdrawal center will also transition from the city into the Housing Authority, a reduction of 8.5 positions within the city. Currently, the low-barrier shelter is expected to open in August.

Armbrust said they are hoping to include many people who use these programs to figure out the best way to not only ensure a continuum of care, but how to better provide care.

"This is a community partnership," Armbrust said. "It's not just the Housing Authority, it's not just Public Health. ... We're going to truly meet community needs."