Anchorage will pay to steer people toward treatment instead of jail, using opioid-settlement money

The Anchorage Assembly voted 11-0 this week to fund a program that steers people away from arrest and toward treatment, paying True North Recovery about $398,000 over the coming year to run it. One of the 12 members was absent for the vote.

The money covers the first year of the Anchorage Police Department's Pre-Arrest Deflection pilot, part of a broader effort to route police encounters toward treatment rather than jail. It is paid from Alaska's share of national opioid-settlement funds. With three possible one-year renewals, the contract could eventually be worth about $1.66 million.

The 11-0 vote was not without a note of caution. At a city commission meeting earlier this month, Jamie Lopez raised a concern about police-linked outreach programs in general — not this contract specifically — warning that tying services to law enforcement can drive away the very people they aim to help. "When you attach outreach services to law enforcement, there are a number of people that are not going to accept it for the simple reason it's a barrier," Lopez said.