BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

CANTON — St. Lawrence County Legislators voted in favor of using contingency funds for the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program but it wasn’t without consternation from a few legislators.

Legislators on the operations committee agreed to use $500,000 to pay for the medical supplies and expenses associated with the program during the committee’s April 10 meeting.

According to Sheriff Brooks Bigwarfe, the MAT Program, which was first implemented last October, is mandated by the state.

“When we were putting together this program early last year, many things we needed to setup budgetary wise were an estimate. We didn’t start the program until October. Obviously the budget was already set then,” Bigwarfe told the committee.

Officials had originally allotted $150,000 for the program, essentially just throwing out numbers based on estimates, he said.

Some of the factors that made it difficult to come up with a more accurate budget included the cost of the drugs, how many inmates would qualify for the program and how long they would be enrolled in the program.

“We were kind of just throwing numbers out last fall,” Bigwarfe said.

Though officials agreed to spend $150,000 for the program, a contingency fund with $500,000 was also established to ensure the state mandated program would be financed.

According to Bigwarfe, the program has cost an average of $50,000 per month through the first quarter of 2023.

In the month of January, total expenses were $45,415, rising slightly in February to $45,986 and continuing up sharply in March, rising to $57,376, officials say.

“So, we can see we have a trend that is going up. I can tell you the population count that have been on that for this month, we have 116 inmates in our facility. Today, 61 of those individuals are on the MAT program,” Bigwarfe said.

The rise in inmates on the program, now sitting at 53%, is the largest contributing factor to the rising costs associated with the program.

Bigwarfe also told legislators that the number of inmates suffering from mental health issues is at an all-time high, further stressing the county’s resources for the county jail.

Steps have been taken in recent months to combat the costs as well, with the county signing a contract with a drug supplier to save 19% on the cost of the drugs used to treat inmates.

“We have 24 inmates on that drug (Sublocade), so we save $8,736 every month under that contract,” Bigwarfe said.

At present, no inmates are utilizing Methadone as part of their treatment, with around 40% of inmates currently using Sublocade.

Not all legislators were onboard with the program, however, as Legislator Harry Smithers questioned why the state has offered little financial support for a program that is mandated at the state level.

According to Bigwarfe, the state gave the county $110,000 to start the program last fall, however no further funding has been received since. Bigwarfe also noted he was not aware of any potential funding coming forth from the next state budget due to continued delays in negotiations.

Legislator Rick Perkins, who vocally opposed the resolution, said it’s time the state is held accountable for the program.

“We’ve got all of these drug addicts in there. All we do is help them out, we just keep enabling. You know, give them safe places to do drugs. Let’s give them clean syringes, let’s keep taking money from the hard working tax payer to pay for these drug addicts,” Perkins said.

Perkins also noted that funds are used to treat, house and feed inmates while the elderly in St. Lawrence County struggle to make ends meet and pay for quality food.

Legislator David Forsythe supported Perkins’ position, saying that despite the glaring issues with the program, “it is what it is” until state officials take action.

Bigwarfe also voiced his frustrations with the mandates, telling legislators he was not keen on the county financing the program.

Legislator Larry Denesha also voiced his displeasure with the state, saying the state “is going to hell in a handbasket” due to mandated programs such as the MAT Program.

Legislator Margaret Haggard questioned whether the rise in drug prices may have played a role in the rise of program expenses, however Bigwarfe said it’s difficult to know because the program has only been operating for roughly six months to date.

Legislator Joseph Lightfoot placed the blame squarely on the state, saying it was time for Albany to step up and pass comprehensive laws that would enable law enforcement to crack down harder on violent and drug related crime.

The resolution will now go before the full board for final approval in May.