Good afternoon!

Everyone reading (and writing) this newsletter can admit to being a bit nerdy about opioid settlement spending. We understand the intricacies of Exhibit E, and we’re guilty of spending dinner parties explaining to our normy friends what future opioid remediation means.

Well, our niche interest has gone mainstream!

This week’s episode of Last Week Tonight covered opioid settlements, uplifting the pioneering work of Christine Minhee’s Opioid Settlement Tracker, several articles from Aneri Pattani’s Payback series with KFF Health News, and the Roadmap for Opioid Settlement Fundswhich CEG helped author along with several other community organizations.

John Oliver rightly described the settlements as “what’s been called the most complicated litigation in the history of complex litigation,” and expresses what we’ve been saying at AOR all along:

“The sad truth is, even if every penny from the settlement did go to alleviating the opioid crisis, it would still just be scratching the surface. But any time you watch this money go toward policing drug users instead of helping them it just feels like adding insult to injury.”

The remedy to bad spending, as we continue to emphasize, is civic engagement. Unfortunately, our political systems aren’t always designed in a way that makes it easy to share our opinions, but we hope that our work at AOR has given you the information and motivation to attend a meeting or write a letter to your local decision makers. If you need extra support to do so, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Email us at AOR@CommunityEducationGroup.org

We’ll be at the Appalachian Syndemic Summit next week and look forward to sending our next newsletter the following week!

Opioid settlement funds come from broken hearts and must be used respectfully and wisely. HEAL Ohio designed a deck of solutions to guide opioid settlement spending which shares 52 evidence based and community tested solutions for how to best spend opioid settlement funds. Each card will also include a QR code that takes you to a website listing peer reviewed research, examples of current programs, and the names of leaders you should know.

The website is still under development, but orders are now open for the first round of cards! These initial purchases will allow HEAL Ohio to print more for wider distribution across the country. If you want to get your hands on one of the first packs, check out the order form here!

Alabama

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

New York

Ulster County legislature narrowly voted down a resolution calling on the county to put out a request for proposals to seek out vendors other than Samadhi Inc. for $400,000 in opioid settlement funds earmarked for an outpatient opioid detox program. Lawmakers cited “an alarming surge in complaints” they’ve received from the public about Samadhi’s facilities, as well as allegations that there was over $50,000 missing from the non-profit’s 2022 audit. Samadhi’s executive director defended the organization and shared that they serve over 270 people experiencing homelessness each year, and they use money to buy them food or partial funds for housing in a motel. He said once auditors found there weren’t proper receipts for many of these transactions, the organization implemented new policies and have shared that with the comptroller’s office.

North Carolina

Dare County approved allocation of settlement funds for fiscal year 2024-25:

• $68,000 for a Peer Support Specialist position
• $75,000 for a Recovery Court Case Manager position
• $100,000 for naloxone and fentanyl test strips for community distribution
• $12,000 for social determinants of health (note: they didn’t say what exactly this means, but it sounds like it’s a fund to help support costs of things like transportation, clothing, or medical care)
• $50,000 towards Dare County Detention Center, to help with reentry programs
• $45,000 to Changing Tides, a local drug and alcohol treatment center, to help local residents pay for treatment
• $20,000 to the Dare Challenge program, to help local residents pay for treatment

Nash County is hosting several community forums to gather community input on proposed uses for the county’s opioid settlement funds. Attendees are encouraged to register in advance by visiting the Nash County website and following links to the Opioid Settlement and Resources page. To speak with someone about the upcoming community forums, contact Tia Foula at Tia.Foula@nashcountync.gov.

Richmond County approved a request to use settlement funds to implement a medication-assisted treatment program in the jail in order to bring the county in line with a ruling on the Americans with Disabilities Act. The program will reportedly include treatment with at least one FDA-approved opioid agonist and use the Pay-Tel inmate tablets “through self-guided courses related to substance abuse that are available to inmates at no cost.” ((Note: The article mistakenly says “FDA-approved opioid antagonist,” but the meeting agenda abstract (page 86) says agonist. This is an important distinction because methadone and buprenorphine, the gold standard treatments for OUD, are opioid agonists whereas naltrexone is an antagonist. Learn more here.)) 

Ohio

The City of Hamilton is requesting funds from OneOhio to support the city’s fire department. Specifically, they are requesting funds to purchase:

• 14 Lifepak 35 monitors, a next-generation heart monitor and defibrillator that costs $60,000 per unit (twice as high as previous generations of this technology)
• 8 motorized Stryker StairChairs ($20,000 per unit)
• 1 to 3 medic units (which range from $195,000 to $225,000 each)
• 8 Lucas chest compression devices ($20,000 per unit)
• 15 AED (defibrillator) devices ($3,000 each)

Tennessee

The Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council awarded $9.1 million to Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Health and Human Services, of which $7 million is being re-granted to H.U.S.T.L.E. Recovery to create respite housing – low-barrier housing for people who are seeking treatment but can’t get immediately access to it – and for wraparound services like helping folks with housing, jobs, sponsors, and mental health. 

West Virginia

Members of Region 4 of the West Virginia First Foundation have selected Jon Dower as the next representative. Dower is in long-term recovery and he is the Executive Director for West Virginia Sober Living and the Director of Recovery Services for Ascension Recovery Services. He also serves on the Governor’s Task Force on Substance Misuse and Prevention as the Chair of the Recovery Subcommittee.

Tucker County has approved using $1,000 of settlement funds to pay for an appearance of Batman and his Batmobile at the local 4-H camp. Batman will present the campers with Four Steps to Greatness – always help others, never give up, never be a bully, always do the right thing. The Commission hopes the presentation will help combat teenage suicide and drug use among the children of Tucker County.

Upshur County agreed to allocate $15,000 of settlement funds to the 26th Judicial Circuit ADC Foundation for the county drug court program.

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: June 4 – time TBD
• 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)

• May 30, 10:00am – 11:00am 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)

• May 17, 10:30am – 4pm 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: June 12, 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: May 22, 9:00am EST
• Grant Oversight Committee: May 22, 3:00pm EST
• Expert Panel: June 6, 2pm EST
• Personnel Committee: June 6, 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: June 20, 2:00pm – 3:30pm EST
• In-person located in Harrisburg
• All virtual and can watch live via Zoom and recordings on YouTube

South Carolina

Opioid Recovery Fund

• SCORF Board Meeting: June 19 time and location TBD (info here)
• Coffee Chat: June 7, 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: June 18, 9:00am – 11:00am CST (info here)
• In-person located in Memphis, TN. (Location rotates around the state.) Meetings are also available to watch via Teams – All attendees are able to give public comment
• Recordings and meeting minutes are available on their website

Virginia

Opioid Abatement Authority (meeting info here)

• Grants Committee: May 23, 3-5pm EST
• Finance Committee: May 23, 2-3pm EST
• Board Meeting: June 14, 3-5pm EST

West Virginia

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

• Board of Directors meeting: May 16, 2:00pm EST