“A Labor of Love”: A progressive program to treat opioid users finds a surprising home at the Mendocino County jail

UKIAH, 9/19/21 –– Every morning, Captain Timothy Pearce, Mendocino County jail’s commander, arrives at the facility where he has worked for the last 18 years and reads a coded dashboard, prepared by the jail’s medical staff, which tracks those in custody on detox monitoring who have tested positive for opiates or alcohol. On July 30, when Pearce spoke with The Mendocino Voice, seven people had tested positive for opiates. 

Over the past two years, at least 16 people at the Mendocino County jail have overdosed while in custody. The jail, on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic, has turned towards medication-assisted treatment for opioid users, a progressive departure from previous policies. The fact that people with opioid use disorder are receiving treatment for their addiction in a county jail might be surprising, but what’s alarming providers are the risks of not treating substance use, including high overdose rates, both in jail and once those prisoners are released.