New federal funding restrictions could increase overdose deaths
Good Morning, I’m Lawrence K. Jackson….it’s WEDNESDAY, September 3rd>>>>
THERE ARE NEW FEDERAL FUNDING RESTRICTIONS FOR TREATING ADDICTION.More on THE LOCAL IMPACT. But first... the headlines….#######
EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CUT FEDERAL FUNDING THAT PROVIDED FREE LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO MORE THAN 26,000 UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT CHILDREN. INCLUDING 300 CHILDREN HERE IN SAN DIEGO. YESTERDAY, COUNTY SUPERVISOR TERRA LAWSON-REMER ANNOUNCED A PLAN TO COVER THE COST.
SHE SAYS FEDERAL FUNDING RUNS OUT AT THE END OF THE MONTH.
“And after that. After September 30th. Unless we act. Here in San Diego. Even toddlers will be forced to face a judge and a federal prosecutor completely alone.”
LAWSON-REMER IS INTRODUCING A PROPOSAL TO GRANT FREE LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN IN SAN DIEGO’S IMMIGRATION COURTS.
IT WOULD BE AN EXPANSION TO AN ALREADY EXISTING LEGAL DEFENSE PROGRAM THAT SERVES SOME ADULT IMMIGRANTS.
LAWSON-REMER IS NOT ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
THE FIVE-MEMBER BOARD OF SUPERVISORS IS EXPECTED TO VOTE ON THE PROPOSAL AT NEXT TUESDAY’S MEETING.
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A PLAN TO CREATE A SAFE PARKING LOT FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS APPEARS TO BE BACK ON THE TABLE
IN THE LAST ACADEMIC YEAR, SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAD ALMOST TWENTY THOUSAND HOMELESS STUDENTS
THE U-T REPORTS THAT THE PROJECT COULD OPEN AS SOON AS THIS MONTH, AND COULD OPEN UP ROUGHLY 60 SPACES AT THE OLD CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN CITY HEIGHTS
THE SPACES WILL INITIALLY BE RESERVED FOR KIDS AND PARENTS WITHIN SD UNIFIED
THE LONG-DISCUSSED PROJECT HAD BEEN IN LIMBO DUE TO DISAGREEMENTS OVER MONEY AFTER IT BECAME CLEAR THAT A GRANT WOULD NOT COVER THE LOT’S FULL COST
BUT NOW THE SAN DIEGO HOUSING COMMISSION AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SAY THEY’RE WORKING OUT AN AGREEMENT.
SAFE PARKING LOTS USUALLY HAVE BATHROOMS, SECURITY GUARDS AND CASE MANAGERS
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SCRIPPS HEALTH IS NOW OFFERING FLU VACCINATIONS
DOCTORS SAY VACCINATIONS ARE THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT FROM THE VIRUS AND GETTING THE SHOT EARLY, HELPS MAKE SURE YOU’RE PROTECTED BY THE TIME THE VIRUS IS CIRCULATING WIDELY
DURING FLU SEASON LAST YEAR, MORE THAN 39 THOUSAND PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY GOT THE FLU AND OVER 200 DIED FROM IT.
THAT’S MORE THAN TRIPLE THE PREVIOUS SEASON’S NUMBER OF DEATHS
From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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A NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITS HOW FEDERAL FUNDING CAN BE SPENT BY PROGRAMS THAT ASSIST PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS. HEALTH REPORTER HEIDI DE MARCO SAYS OUTREACH WORKERS BELIEVE THE CHANGE COULD INCREASE PREVENTABLE OVERDOSES.
NARCAN trt: 4:54 soq
On a recent Wednesday afternoon, alcohol and drug counselor Paulette Mendoza and her teammates are getting ready to meet their patients. They load up their van with backpacks and boxes full of supplies and head out to…
SOT: Like a 99 cents store where a lot of people that we know are gathered.
Mendoza is part of San Diego’s first street health program. Father Joe’s Villages started it in 2019.
PAULETTE MENDOZA
ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG OUTREACH WORKER
A big part of my job is going to be the harm reduction. The amount of time that I spend out in the streets planting the seeds, talking...
SOT: Hi friend. How are you? Are you ok? We have snacks, water and then harm reduction kits.
Every day, they treat health issues affecting unhoused people, from wounds to substance abuse and severe mental illness. Since 2020, Father Joe’s says they have served more than 3,000 people.
SOT: The deaths are down. People are making it. There’s a lot of things that contribute to that. But probably the biggest one has to be the Narcan cause it’s a game changer.
In order to get Narcan into the hands of their patients, Mendoza says the kits include certain tools to help start conversations and build trust with people who use drugs.
SOT: You know, we have foil, we have straws. A lot of people are on fentanyl here. We also have a tourniquet. And testing strips for fentanyl and xylazine.
Federal grants can still pay for naloxone and fentanyl test strips. But a new executive order directs the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMSHA to stop paying for things like syringes and pipes saying they facilitate illegal drug use.
SOT: Hey buddy! How are you?
This afternoon, Mendoza runs into Bakari Rivera, a man she met last year.
SOT: He kinda of looked like the rest of these guys when I met him. I mean, he didn’t look good. Like it was a year in the making but like it works if we’re out there.
Today, Rivera is a year into recovery. He just completed a peer support specialist certificate. He says cutting funding for programs like Mendoza’s could mean more people don’t get a second chance like he did.
BAKARI RIVERA
I was down bad whenI met her. I didn't have a stable palace to rest my head. I actually overdosed on fentanyl on accident and flatlined. They gave me Narcan at the hospital and brought me back.
SOT: I used to come right across here when the street health came…
At their second stop, Mendoza runs into Angelica Preciado who is also in recovery.
SOT: I was on drugs, alcohol, stealing from stores, hanging out with gang members, I did prostitution.
Today, she’s two years sober. And she and Mendoza lean on each other in recovery meetings.
SOT: She has two years, I have one. So it was great. I was really cool. But we were at the same meeting..at the NA meeting. Ya, we were crying…she was crying.
Even after saving lives with Narcan herself, Preciado struggles with the idea of giving out harm reduction supplies.
ANGELICA PRECIADO
I don't want to sound like a hater or anything like that. I just think that people are giving too many options to people that are addicts. You’re giving them a way out.
Research shows harm reduction, including distributing syringes, doesn’t fuel increased drug use. It reduces disease risk and connects people to treatment. In San Diego County, overdoses decreased by more than 250 between 2023 and 2024.
“And I believe that is a direct correlation to the harm reduction interventions that were being provided in the community.”
Jenni Wilkens manages Father Joe’s street health program. She says her team has already distributed 2,500 doses of naloxone this year.
“Moving funding away from harm reduction interventions is going to absolutely increase preventable overdose deaths. “
SOT: Do you know where Father Joe’s is…the church, ya ya…
Back on the street, Mendoza says she knows what’s at stake.
PAULETTE MENDOZA
I think there's a stigma that people on drugs are not worth it. But they are. You're fighting against the solution. We found something that works.
By the end of the day, the team handed out 30 kits, offered detox referrals and made connections. Mendoza says, every kit, every conversation, is a seed that can lead people to treatment….. But without all their tools, she says that chance for change could vanish.
Heidi de Marco, KPBS News.
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A VACANT LOT IN EAST CHULA VISTA COULD SOON BE TURNED INTO DOZENS OF AFFORDABLE HOMES.
INEWSOURCE INTERN RAMI ALARIAN (UH-LAREON)HAS MORE.
CHULABONS 1 (inews) TRT (:34) SOQ
Chula Vista has struggled to build enough affordable housing. But a long-planned project may help.The city is assisting the private developer ... Baldwin and Sons ... secure a bond to help build nearly one-hundred affordable units in Otay Ranch. Lower-income residents would be eligible for the homes that range from one to three bedrooms.While the city is helping secure the twenty-five-million-dollar bond, it’s acting as what’s known as a conduit issuer ... meaning it won’t be responsible for paying off the debt.A final vote on the bonds could come next year. For KPBS, I’m inewsource intern Rami Alarian.
INEWSOURCE IS AN INDEPENDENTLY FUNDED, NONPROFIT PARTNER OF KPBS. THIS STORY IS PART OF OUR PUBLIC MATTERS PARTNERSHIP. TO FIND OUT MORE, GO TO KPBS DOT ORG SLASH PUBLIC MATTERS.
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AT THE TIMKEN IN BALBOA PARK, ARTIST MARISOL RENDÓN (MAR-i-sol ren-DON) CREATED AN EXHIBIT OF CONTEMPORARY ART ECHOING SOME 17TH CENTURY WORKS IN THE MUSEUM. ARTS REPORTER JULIA DIXON EVANS SAYS THE ART ALSO EXPLORES PESTS AND THE CONTROVERSIAL COCA PLANT.
TIMKENMARISOL 1 (1:08) SOQ
Suspended from the Timken's ceiling is a massive paper-lantern poporo vessel casting moth shadows on the floor. Artist Marisol Rendón says the poporo was used by indigenous cultures to mash coca leaves.
MARISOL COCA PLANTATIONS.wav
The moths that are actually on the only moths that eat the coca leaves to the point that the Colombian government wanted to eradicate the coca plantations, the illicit coca plantations with the moth.
Marisol JDE 2.wav
In Rendón's native Colombia, the coca leaf has a long history as a medicinal plant, chewed for sustenance in high elevations.
MARISOL COCA RADIO.wav
and also the idea of this other, something that can be a pest, that can actually something can be beneficial in a certain way.
Marisol JDE 3.wav
Everything in the exhibit plays with light and deception.
MARISOL SEARCHING FOR LIGHT.wav [00:16]
the idea of hope and illusion and glory and these type of things just the ephemeral things that we build, human beings and that obsessiveness, I think that I can sort of correlate that with the metaphor of our lives always searching for the light.
The exhibit is on view at the Timken, where admission is always free, through Oct. 12.
Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS news
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IT’S BEEN A FEW MONTHS SINCE ESCONDIDO’S MAIN PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY LOCATED AT AN UNCONVENTIONAL LOCATION… THE MALL.
REPORTER JACOB AERE SAYS THE NEW SPOT MAKES VISITING CONVENIENT FOR LONG TIME AND FIRST TIME LIBRARYGOERS.
ESCOMALL 1 (ja) 1:08 SOQ
**Nats, fade to ambi **
The hum of pop music, colorful retail stores and plenty of shoppers fill Escondido’s Mershops North County Mall.
Clara Chan was there with her son Hudson, for a children's storytime program, put on by the Escondido Library.
She says the mall location is convenient.
“I feel like if people are just shopping and see it, they will be curious about it. So I think it's great.”
In May, staff moved thousands of books and repurposed five storefronts on the mall’s first floor for this temporary library. It’s been as busy as the downtown location so far, if not a little more popular, says library director Rino Landa (REE-no LAN-duh).
“We’re seeing a lot more interest in younger families that are coming to the mall for shopping or entertainment and they're also stopping by the library. We’re also seeing a very big increase in our teen demographic.”
The mall location is about half the size of downtown. So there’s less seating, computers and books on display – but Landa says almost all of their services are up and running.
Renovations are expected to be completed on the original Escondido library by April 2026. JA KPBS News.
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NOW FROM ESCONDIDO TO TORREY PINES …I WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH A SHOUT OUT TO ONE OF OUR SD STANDOUT’S
FORMER TORREY PINES HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER C-J STUBBS MADE HIS MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL DEBUT ON MONDAY AFTER SIX YEARS IN THE MINOR LEAGUES
NOW A CATCHER WITH THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS, C-J WAS GIVEN THE GAME WINNING BALL AFTER A 2 TO ZERO WIN FOR HIS BALL CLUB
KEEPING THINGS IN THE FAMILY, STUBBS BROTHER GARRETT WAS CALLED UP TO THE BIG LEAGUES BY THE PHILLIES ON THE SAME DAY THAT C-J MADE HIS DEBUT
GARRETT IS ALSO A TORREY PINES GRAD WHO’SE PLAYED IN ALMOST 200 MAJOR LEAGUE GAMES OVER SIX SEASONS
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Lawrence K. Jackson. Thanks for listening and subscribing by doing so you are supporting public media and I thank you for that. Have a great day!
