Elected leaders deserve kudos for taking positive steps to invest in behavioral health and addiction-recovery services in the Spokane area. But many more steps are needed. 

Ideally, the pragmatic steps will move the community closer to curbing the region's fentanyl crisis, as what some describe as an unprecedented drug epidemic maintains its grip on the region's most vulnerable populations and encroaches on quality of life for many.

The plan, announced by Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and Council President Betsy Wilkerson, will put nearly $1.5 million in national opioid lawsuit-settlement funds to work.

As proposed, about a third of the money, or $500,000, will go toward adding sobering beds at Spokane Treatment & Recovery Services. Another third will go toward the planning and launching of what's referred to as "culturally specific" behavioral health treatment.

Perhaps more immediately, the plan calls for using $350,000 to expand medication-assisted treatment at Spokane Regional Health District's clinic, which is intended to reduce the likelihood of people being turned away when seeking treatment.

The balance of the funds—roughly $140,000—would go toward tracking performance of opioid settlement dollars and strengthening overdose data collection. To put this move in context, the city is due to receive $13.3 million in total in the coming years from the national settlement.

The proposed distribution is the second by the city, with the first being roughly $1 million.

One encouraging aspect of the current proposal is that the city is working in collaboration with the Spokane County Board of Commissioners on some of the investments, reportedly at the recommendation of both city and county staff.

In a statement, Mayor Brown describes the collaboration as a regional partnership with the county that "ensures that opioid settlement funds are used effectively to address both the immediate crisis and its long-term impacts."

Such collaboration is necessary and should be lauded. That said, it shouldn't be viewed as a substitute for—or mistaken as a version of—a broader regional effort to address woes perplexing downtown Spokane and the greater community. As we've stated in this space a number of times, a broad-based approach and a consolidation of resources to address vagrancy is needed to help the region's most vulnerable populations, and elected leaders from all municipalities within the region should be prioritizing such an approach.

But such a caveat shouldn't take away from the endeavors to combat the drug crisis in the Spokane region. And the hope is that the collaboration is one in a series of steps to join forces to solve some of the bigger challenges our community faces.

We aren't alone in our plight, as fentanyl has destroyed lives in communities throughout the U.S. and beyond, but such moves to address immediate needs and long-term effects are essential steps in the right direction, as there isn't a simple solution to such perplexing problems.

Ideally, we, as a community, will be able to help those that need it in the coming months, curb usage, and ultimately, save lives.