"It means you need help, right now."

City of Fort Bragg website

The opioid crisis is hitting Mendocino County hard. Nonprofits, clinics, and health departments are scrambling to stand up programs to counter it. In Fort Bragg, the police department and the city are working with the courts and the school district to steer people who use drugs into treatment rather than incarceration. In March of last year, the city got a state grant to fund what it calls a Care Response Unit within its police department. The program got going in July of 2022. When the grant got close to running out, the police department applied for another one, which allowed it to expand its program into what Mayor Bernie Novell says they call Project Right Now.