Please sign this letter urging the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to enforce more robust compliance measures, ensuring that grant-funded recovery housing centers provide access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). Despite the proven effectiveness of MOUD in treating opioid use disorder (OUD), many individuals continue to face discrimination and lack of access to these vital treatments in recovery housing settings.

We are accepting individual and organizational sign-on. Please complete this form if you want to add your name or your organization to this letter. The deadline is EOD Friday, July 5, 2024.

Questions? Contact Rollie Martinson, Senior Policy Associate at Community Education Group, at rmartinson@communityeducationgroup.org

Alabama

Community organizations across Walker County are collaborating with the County Commission to advise on the best use of settlement funds. To gather essential insights from folks with living and lived experiences, they created a survey for individuals to share their stories of substance use and recovery. The survey takes 4-6 minutes, and all responses are anonymous.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (KYOAAC) approved the following Opioid Abatement Trust Fund (state share) grants:

Watch the meeting recording here. 

• The Hope Center Inc. – $680,280
• Hope Springs Church – $80,462
• HorseSensing Inc. – $115,219
• Isaiah House Inc. – $250,000
• Kentucky Hospital Research & Education Foundation Inc. – $250,000
• Lake Cumberland Area Development District, Inc. – $207,550
• Life Learning Center – $498,500
• Mercy Health – Marcum and Wallace Hospital – $179,834
• Natalie Sisters Inc. – $88,356
• Northeast Kentucky Regional Health Information Organization – $331,997
• Ramey-Estep Homes – $222,801
• Recovery Café Lexington – $273,671
• Transitions Inc. – $156,000
• Voices of Hope Lexington – $538,021
• Volunteers of America Mid-States – $664,587
• Western Kentucky MHMR Board doing business as Four Rivers Behavioral Health – Paducah – $230,251
• Young People in Recovery – $301,440

New York

Erie County has announced plans to invest $5.9 million from opioid settlement funding to support 25 Western New York programs.

• Kids Escaping Drugs, Face 2 Face ($249,425)
• Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Role of Harm Reduction in Legal Systems Education and Training ($250,000)
• The Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of the University at Buffalo, Primary Care Research Institute, Positive Direction Model Evaluation ($250,000)
• The Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of the University at Buffalo, Primary Care Research Institute, Design of a SUD (substance use disorder) Peer Network ($250,000)
• West Side Community Services, Teen Intervene ($250,000)
• GROUP Ministries Inc., Support PWUD (people who use drugs) with recovery, housing, and social employment support ($100,000)
• Hope of Buffalo, Inc., Peaceprints ($500,000)
• Positive Directions and Associates, Inc., SBIRT (screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment) training ($20,000)
• Positive Directions and Associates, Inc., Improving birth outcomes for pregnant people and their infants ($100,000)
• JA Hauser and Rebecca Rose Sobriety Services LLC, Innovative Recovery Living Options ($200,000)
• Jericho Road, Culturally Competent Care and Education ($30,000)

North Carolina

At their June 17th meeting, the Avery County Board of Commissioners allocated settlement funds to the following: $56,256 to Freedom Life of Avery Ministries; $100,000 to Highland Community Health; $25,000 to Marjorie Williams Academy; and $51,000 to Media and Restorative Justice Center.

Brunswick County is funding the Addiction Response and Rediscovering One’s Worth (ARROW) initiative at the Brunswick Detention Center. ARROW is a 90-day, abstinence-only treatment program that offers counseling, support groups, and re-entry services. It’s estimated to cost $252,335.84 for 30 participants. The budget covers the salaries of two positions—a program coordinator and a jailer—and contracted services. Recent Yale research suggests that non-medication-assisted OUD treatment may cause more harm than no treatment at all, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued guidance stating that denying MOUD to people in jail with OUD constitutes a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Stanly County Board of Commissioners demanded that the Uwharrie Harm Reduction Initiative (UHRI) stop its syringe service program (SSP) as a condition for receiving $79,055 in settlement funds for its peer support program. UHRI will discontinue syringe services by June 30. This political decision contradicts the intent of the NC MOA which prioritizes SSP as a High-Impact strategy.

Pennsylvania

State Sen. Greg Rothman (R., Cumberland), Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust board member, expressed concerns about the group’s private meetings potentially violating the state’s Sunshine Act. Rothman’s concerns, highlighted in a letter dated March 26, follow transparency issues first raised by Spotlight PA and WESA. In a public meeting in February, Chair Tom VanKirk proposed that smaller groups review counties’ spending reports in private and publicly make recommendations to the entire board. VanKirk asserted that this approach was compliant with the Sunshine Act without providing further justification. For more details, read Spotlight PA’s full report: Secret opioid cash meetings criticized by Pa. lawmaker after Spotlight PA and WESA reporting.

The City of Philadelphia announced that it awarded $3.1 million to 43 nonprofit organizations through the Overdose Prevention and Community Healing Fund, a grantmaking program managed by the Scattergood Foundation, which invests funds from the national opioid settlements to the following: 

• Mercy Neighborhood Ministries: A Path to Prosperity.
• The National African American Male Wellness Agency: It’s Our Problem, Too
• North Philly Project: North Philly Project’s Social Justice Initiative.
• NewView Institute: Healing Hearts: PSA – Preventing Substance Abuse
• Hunting Park Green: Hunting Park Powerful.
• Musicopia: Futures and Healing through Music and Dance.
• Ordinarie Heroes: Prevention and Healing through Mentorship, Photography, and Gardening.
• RAH Civic Association: Life Saving Information Everyone Needs to Know.
• The Reawakening Agency: Re-Entry Initiation Phases 1-3.
• The Educational Advocates Reaching Today’s Hardworking Students, Inc. (EARTHS): PARENT POWER (What Will You Do With Yours?)
• Young Lady Butterflies (fiscally sponsored by Care Nest Homes): Overdose Prevention and Community Healing

Citywide

• Broad Street Love for Behavioral Health Initiative 2024.
• CADEKids for CADEkids Out of School Prevention.
• Face to Face for Hospitality. Mutuality. Transformation.
• Interim House for IHI’s Citywide Initiative for Overdose Prevention and Community Healing.
• Philly House for HOPE LIVES HERE!
• South Philly Punks with Lunch for Harm Reduction Outreach.
• Unity Recovery for Bringing Peer Re-entry Support and Overdose Prevention Services to Scale in Philadelphia.
• Uplift Center for Grieving Children for Grief groups and community outreach and partnership development.

Tennessee

Hamilton County announced recipients of the second round of settlement grants for nonprofits: $75,000 was to the McNabb Center for a Second Change community-based re-entry program; $50,000 to the Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services to expand their Family Way Program; $50,000 to Transform Ministries to enhance Project STOP; $49,430 to Men of Valor for re-entry and post-incarceration care; $20,000 to Erlanger Medical Center for postpartum recovery services; and $20,000 to the Launch Pad for a career coach.

West Virginia

Charleston City Council approved $500,000 in settlement funds for the Coordinated Addiction Response Effort (CARE) Quick Response Team. The funding will cover three positions within the Quick Response Team for the next year, supporting their efforts in providing rapid response and follow-up care to individuals experiencing overdoses.

Alabama

Oversight Commission on Settlement Funds

• TBD
• In-person in Montgomery, AL
• Can watch live on their website (choose ‘Room 200’ for location then ‘Oversight Commission on Alabama Opioid Settlement Funds’ for meeting)

You can also watch livestreams and recordings on The Alabama Channel (thanks to the League of Women Voters of Alabama Education Fund)

Kentucky

Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (meeting info here)

• Business Meeting: July 29, 9am EST
• In-person located in Frankfort, KY and attendees can give public comment
• Can watch live and recordings on their YouTube channel
• Prevention/Reform/Compliance Subcommittee Meeting: TBD
• In-person located in Frankfort, KY
• Treatment & Recovery Subcommittee meeting: TBD
• In-person located in Frankfort, KY

Maryland

Opioid Restitution Fund Advisory Council (meeting info here)

• July 29, 3pm – 4pm EST
• Meetings are all-virtual. Can watch live via Google Meet & there is usually an opportunity for public comment

New York

Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board (meeting info here)

• September 13, 10am – 3pm EST
• In-person located in Albany, and attendees can give public comment
• Can watch live and recordings on their website

Monthly ‘Community’ meeting: 4th Wednesday of the month at 12pm

• See this page under ‘Community Input’

Ohio

OneOhio Recovery Foundation Board (meeting info here)

• Full Board Meeting: August 14, 10:30am EST
• In-person meetings are located in Columbus and are open to the public, but there is usually no opportunity for public comment
• Can watch live and recordings on their website
• Executive Committee: July 24, 9:00am EST
• Grant Oversight Committee: August 14, 9:30pm EST
• Expert Panel: August 1, 2:00m EST
• Personnel Committee: August 1, 3pm EST

Regional Information Sessions (see events calendar for most up-to-date info)

• TBD

Pennsylvania

Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust (meeting info here)

• Board of Trustees Meeting: August 22, 1:30pm – 3pm EST
• In-person located in Harrisburg
• All are virtual and can be watched live via Zoom and recordings on YouTube

South Carolina

Opioid Recovery Fund

• SCORF Board Meeting: August 1, Edgar A. Brown Building (info here)
• Coffee Chat: August 2, 9:30am EST, virtual
• This is held the first Friday of the month and is an opportunity to ask questions and hear announcements about opioid settlement funds

Tennessee

Opioid Abatement Council

• Meeting: July 31, 4:30pm EST – emergency meeting (info here)
• In-person located in Memphis, TN. (Location rotates around the state.) Meetings are also available to watch via Teams – All attendees can give public comment
• Recordings and meeting minutes are available on their website

Virginia

Opioid Abatement Authority (meeting info here)

• Grants Committee: August 2, 3-5pm EST
• Finance Committee: TBD
• Board Meeting: TBD

West Virginia

West Virginia First Foundation, Inc. (meeting info here)

• Board of Directors meeting: August 1, 2:00pm EST
• Meetings are held the first Thursday of the month