Measure 110 funding expands peer support for substance use disorder treatment in eastern Oregon

New Directions Northwest, a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment provider in Baker City, has grown its peer support program with funding from Measure 110. David Fry, the program manager for Outpatient Drug & Alcohol at New Directions, said the impact of Measure 110 funding has been a “night and day change.” New Directions is connecting with people who may have never sought treatment and helping them in ways the organization did not have capacity to before, he said.

Located in Baker County, New Directions Northwest is a critical provider of mental health support, crisis intervention, and SUD services in rural eastern Oregon. For its SUD services, the organization offers clinically managed withdrawal treatment, residential treatment, outpatient programs, and social well-being services such as transitional housing and supported employment.

Prior to Measure 110 (Oregon’s drug treatment and recovery act passed by voters in 2020), New Directions Northwest had a fairly new peer support program for clients. With the increased funding, they now have four peers on staff focused on SUD and are hiring additional staff. The peer support model is a focus of Measure 110 implementation and has shown promising results across the country in helping people navigate SUD.

“Peers” are individuals in long-term recovery. Peers relate to clients based on their own experience with SUD. Typically trained in harm reduction, infectious disease prevention and crisis intervention, peers work directly with clients, conducting community outreach and working to build trust. If someone is motivated to go through treatment, peers connect them with community resources and treatment programs. They then serve as a consistent support through the client’s journey.

Complementing their clinical services with the new peer support program, New Directions Northwest has expanded its offerings. Its peers build relationships over time by being a consistent community presence in the Baker City area – by talking to and supporting people with things such as delivering groceries and basic supplies. Peers also establish a network of relationships with people using drugs, standing out as someone who can be trusted. One of their previous clients now serves as one of the newly hired peer support specialists. Several clients have expressed interest in becoming peers after experiencing the model’s impact on their lives.

Bob Forsythe, New Directions Northwest’s peer support supervisor, was involved in the implementation of Measure 110 funding and is a peer himself. He said the new staff are “starting the conversation” so if, or when, a client is interested in support, the peers can connect them to help.

Beyond establishing the new peer support program, the organization has used Measure 110 funding to better equip staff through crisis intervention training. Funding will also help renovate a building for the organization’s new outreach center.

Measure 110 implementation has also improved New Directions’ coordination with other SUD providers in the Tri-County area of Baker, Union and Wallowa counties. The law calls for the creation of Behavioral Health Resource Networks (BHRNs) in every county statewide to reduce administrative barriers of coordinating care among multiple providers. Working within the BHRN has simplified referring clients to other local providers when New Directions Northwest does not have space.  

 “We’re going to see an impact,” Forsyth said, reflecting on the impact of Measure 110 funding. “It’s going to take a few years for us to really see it, but people are being helped in ways that they weren’t really able to be helped before.”