SANFORD — As the city awaits word on whether it has been awarded state grant money for a program to treat the uninsured for opioid addiction, those who have insurance aren’t being forgotten.

The City Council’s Public Safety Committee mulled that subject earlier this month, and Councilor Lucas Lanigan spoke briefly on the matter at last Tuesday’s council meeting.

He said the Police Department may seek out those looking for help to kick their addiction who have private health insurance,

MaineCare, or some other means to pay for the program.

It would help get the program started, Lanigan said, while the grant process continues.

“We’re trying to take a creative look at how to use the resources here,” he said.

The Sanford Police Department is collaborating with Maine Behavioral Health to establish a medication-assisted Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program. It would offer evidence-based, medication assisted treatment coupled with intense outpatient therapy and counseling.

Applications were due Aug. 5 in to the Maine Department of Public Safety.

In the meantime, 13 Sanford police officers will be trained to seek out addicts, talk with them about their addictions, evaluate their level of use and refer them for treatment.

Police Chief Tom Connolly said officers know who the users are. Opioid addicts who acknowledge they need help and are willing to commit to a formal, long-term treatment program will be referred to MBH for a formal screening, he said.

“Every one person you save, that’s a big victory,” said Connolly.

Connolly has looked at the treatment options and studied the science, and is a firm believer that medication assisted treatment offers the best outcome.

The proposal combines outpatient therapy with buprenorphine, which is prescribed to treat opioid addiction. Applicants would be required to attend what Connolly described as intensive therapy several hours a day, several days a week, for a lengthy period of time.

Those who complete the program would follow up with weekly group or individual therapy, drug testing and more.

The city should hear in October if it has been awarded a grant to fund programs for around 10 people who don’t have insurance. Connolly said he hopes to have that program in place by November or December, though offering the program to those who have insurance could come a bit earlier.

“Just because someone is a heroin addict doesn’t mean they don’t have the resources” to pay for such a program, said Deputy Mayor Maura Herlihy. “It’s the will.”

Herlihy said the city wants to ensure that those with financial capability are offered the same help to free themselves from addiction as those who don’t.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].