Grays Harbor County Therapeutic Court directors hope to secure a lease for a rental property in Hoquiam that could serve as transitional housing for people in the early stages of the court’s drug recovery program.

The shift in housing structure, which would ultimately need approval from county commissioners, first will be reviewed by the county’s legal team to address potential liability concerns raised during discussion at a Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday.

Therapeutic court coordinator Jamie Wintrip said having a “clean and sober house” dedicated solely to court participants will provide a more stable, supportive and regulated environment, as well as a necessary boost to program housing capacity.

“What we know is that if people are not in stable housing or if people are homeless, like many of them are when they go to jail or are released from jail, they’re typically not able to be successful if they don’t have a stable place to live,” Wintrip said.

Under the umbrella of Grays Harbor County Superior Court, Grays Harbor’s therapeutic court was created in 2018. When Superior Court convicts an individual of a drug-related crime, usually possession, it can sentence the offender to therapeutic court — often called drug court — in lieu of jail or prison time.

When participants first enter the program, and for about the first six months, their living quarters must be court-approved. Out of drug court’s 35 total participants, 22 are currently living in cooperative, transitional housing around Grays Harbor, Wintrip said. Among others, examples include the Chase Recovery and Oxford houses, which might at once host people from other programs like the Department of Corrections or coordinated reentry. The court currently contracts with Coastal Community Action Program to enter participants into sober houses and provide rental assistance.

But, Wintrip said, those houses have their own application and interview process, which sometimes drags on or prevents drug court participants from accessing housing altogether, leaving them sitting in jail.

A house of its own would give the drug court freedom to “determine who is a good fit to live in our housing,” Wintrip said, and implement a “higher standard” of stricter policies, like curfews, that might not be in place elsewhere.

Wintrip said the court has been looking to switch to this type of housing model for several years, but lacked the right opportunity. That was until recently, when an individual — one who has been in recovery for several decades and is now a supporter of the program — offered to rent their property in Hoquiam, a house that can sleep up to 10 people.

Wintrip chose not to provide the address of the house in order to protect privacy of drug court participants and the homeowner.

Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office currently employs a Community Supervision Deputy who is dedicated full-time to therapeutic court. Under Wintrip’s proposed model for the rental house, the deputy would visit the house for daily check-ins, while a designated house manager — a drug court participant in the latter stages of the program — would be in charge at all other times. That model is similar to other cooperative sober houses, Wintrip said, including one operated by the drug court in Lewis County.

Participation in drug court requires random and consistent sobriety tests, Wintrip said, and people with a history of violent or sexual criminal offenses aren’t eligible for the program.

“If they’re in our program and they’re remaining in our program, we can assure you that they’re doing well, or they’re making progress, or they’re, at minimum, clean and sober,” she said.

The house would essentially serve as a form of transitional housing: Once participants reach a certain stage of the program — usually around the six month mark — and might gain employment or return to school, they move away and someone else would fill their spot.

Although the recently “fixed” Blake decision — a 2021 State Supreme Court ruling that dropped felony drug possession charges, and simultaneously stifled progress made by those in drug court — posed a challenge, Wintrip said recent referrals have remained consistent. In fact, the steady number of participants in Grays Harbor drug court has made it eligible for a bump in state funding, which could be used to pay rent and other expenses at the Hoquiam house. Keeping the house full would be key to continued state funding, Wintrip said.

The house would host male occupants only, the court’s largest participant base.

All of the funding for this new housing model will come from the therapeutic court budget, Wintrip said, and could even save the court some cash. The estimated cost is $2,000 per participant for a six-month period.

But before the county can enter a rental agreement, several legal details need to be hashed out, said Grays Harbor County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jon Beltran. He expressed concerns at a Tuesday meeting, including the potential risk the county could incur as a tenant and operator of transitional housing. He also said the house would need to abide by Hoquiam city codes for occupancy limits.

Therapeutic court would ultimately need approval of the lease by the Board of County Commissioners for the project to proceed, Wintrip said.

Grays Harbor County District 1 Commissioner Jill Warne said Tuesday that the proposed lease is for one year and would essentially function as a pilot program.

“I haven’t been a proponent of housing-first without structure. I like the structure that this provides, so I am totally supportive of this,” Warne said.

Contact reporter Clayton Franke at 406-552-3917 or clayton.franke@thedailyworld.com.