The first awards for exemplary application of The Principles for the Use of Funds from the Opioid Litigation were recently awarded to Rock County, Wisconsin, and the State of Colorado. The awards recognize jurisdictions that demonstrated distinction in incorporating the Opioid Litigation Principles as part of their thoughtful, strategic approach to the use of the National Opioid Settlement Funds. The awards were established by a coalition of more than 60 organizations and individuals across the spectrum of the substance use field who work in partnership to provide updates on the litigation, related legislation, and state and local implementation strategies. Rock County and the state of Colorado are the only jurisdictions in the U.S. to receive the inaugural award.

The Principles for the Use of Funds from the Opioid Litigation were created by the Coalition as a guide that state and local jurisdictions can use as they determine how to spend the Opioid Settlement Funds and save the most lives. The Coalition organizations include Shatterproof, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending the addiction crisis, and faculty from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, who have supported the implementation of the Principles. The Principles, endorsed by the Coalition, follow:

1. Spending the Money to Save Lives

2. Using Evidence to Guide the Spending

3. Investing in Youth Prevention

4. Focusing on Racial Equity

5. Developing a Fair and Transparent Process for Deciding Where to Spend the Funds.

"The Principles for the Use of Funds from the Opioid Litigation offer a framework for state and local governments to use as they decide how to spend dollars from the opioid settlements," said Sara Whaley, faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and one of the coordinators of the Principles. “The Principles offer flexibility that jurisdictions can apply in their approaches.”

Rock County, with a population of approximately 160,000, established a workgroup of county agencies to make recommendations on how to spend the funds, including the public health department, human services, county administration, and the Sherriff’s office. They solicited public feedback with a focus on people with lived experience of substance use disorder or overdose and developed a rubric centered on health equity to consider how funds could be utilized. These recommendations included solutions such as sober living, high-level treatment, treatment in the criminal justice system, and youth prevention initiatives that focus on upstream public health interventions.

“By applying the Principles for the use of funds from the National Opioid Settlement, we have been able to ensure that the funding our county is set to receive addresses the key areas necessary to mitigate the impacts that the opioid epidemic has had on our community,” said, Katrina Harwood, public health officer for Rock County

As a state, Colorado began planning to receive settlement funds in 2019 with the release of the Colorado Opioid Crisis Response Blueprint: A Guide for Opioid Settlement Investments, authored by the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse. In 2020, the Colorado Attorney General's Office, in partnership with Colorado Counties, Inc. and the Colorado Municipal League, began working with local governments to design a plan to distribute settlement funds for treatment, recovery, education and awareness programs, and ensure that 90% of those funds would go to local communities.

“We are honored to receive the Inaugural Award for Excellence in the Application of the Opioid Litigation Principles. With collaboration and determination, we in Colorado have a joint framework for distributing the vast majority of the opioid settlement dollars to local regions and governments around the state to address the opioid crisis,” said Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser. “We are thankful for our local government and nonprofit partners that have made our efforts a success.” 

“The State of Colorado and Rock County have demonstrated a commitment to inclusion and transparency. They are using evidence-based best practices and showing leadership while innovating applying the Principles to their opioid settlement funds,“ said Kristen Pendergrass, vice president of state policy for Shatterproof, an endorser of the Principles. 

Additional details about the announcement can be found at
https://opioidprinciples.jhsph.edu/principles-coalition-announces-inaugural-winners-of-award-for-excellence-in-the-application-of-the-opioid-litigation-principles/

Additional details about the awards given to Colorado and the Rock County can be found at https://opioidprinciples.jhsph.edu/updates/

Awards for state and local entities that apply the Principles in exemplary and innovative ways will be awarded quarterly. Questions about the Principles can be directed to opiodprinciples@jh.edu. More information can also be found on Twitter: @OpLitPrinciples