How opioid settlement funds could be put to use in Olmsted Co.

May 14—ROCHESTER — A plan to start spending the initial payments from nearly $4.3 million in opioid settlement funds will be considered by Olmsted County commissioners Tuesday.

"Each settlement carries different parameters on how many years they are going to pay in," Olmsted County Public Health Director Denise Daniels said.

The county's share of a $26 billion multistate opioid settlement reached in 2021 is expected to come in 18 years of payments, but other settlements approved in 2022 could come as lump sums or on different timetables.

With that in mind, county health specialist Abby Tricker said a plan has been designed to use the funds to address the local opioid concerns as they come into the county.

It starts with spending the $868,000 already received over an approximately two-year period.

Working with other county agencies and local service providers, Public Health has established two teams to discuss community needs related to opioid addiction, treatments and other related community concerns.

The larger advisory group will gather quarterly to hear updates from the core team, which is tasked with identifying strategies the funds could support to address the local opioid crisis.

The work that started in January pointed to initial needs related to three efforts:

* Providing medication to treat overdoses,

* Supporting efforts to better connect agencies and the people who need services, and

* Boosting prevention efforts.

"Right now, this is what is seen as making the greatest impact," Tricker said, pointing out a variety of other strategies could be considered with future funds.

While some work can start immediately, Tricker said the bulk of the funds — $700,000 over two years — will be distributed through a process to review proposals from local service providers.

Funding of efforts through the proposals could be announced as early as October under the plan outlined by Public Health staff members, who cited a need to ensure the review process doesn't create conflicts among local agencies.

While more funds are expected to come to the county as the initial effort gets underway, the plan calls for only spending what the county has in hand to avoid a reliance on additional county revenue to bolster the efforts.

"The scope of this will stay within the dollars allotted on the opioid settlements," Olmsted County Deputy Director Travis Gransee said.

Tricker said it's important to start as soon as possible to have the greatest impact.

"Realistically, a lot of the strategies are going to take several years to implement," she said.

Additionally, Gransee pointed out the need to address the opioid crisis is seen now and specific concerns related to drug addiction tend to shift over time.

"Less than 18 years ago, it was meth," he said. "Less than 18 years before that, it was crack and cocaine.

"We will have moved on from some of those, and our drug community will have moved on from opioids in 18 years. Let's not hold off on spending all this money at the end."

The plan calls for the discussion of future strategies and review of new proposals to recur at least every three years as more settlement funds are available.

Olmsted County commissioners will review the plan to oversee and distribute settlement funds during their 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday in board chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE.

Meetings scheduled to be held during the week of May 15 include:

Rochester

—City Council study session, 3:30 p.m. Monday in council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE. The meeting will livestream at

www.rochestermn.gov/meetings/council-meetings

and be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188 and Metronet channel 80.

—City Council, 7 p.m. Monday in council chambers of the Government Center. The meeting will livestream at

www.rochestermn.gov/meetings/council-meetings

and be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188 and Metronet channel 80.

—Library Board, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in meeting room C of the Rochester Public Library, 101 Second St. SE.

—Police Civil Service Commission, 3 p.m. Thursday in room 164B of the Development Services and Infrastructure Center, 4001 West River Parkway.

Olmsted County

—Administrative Committee, 1 p.m. Tuesday in board chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE.

—Health, Housing and Human Services Committee, 2:15 p.m. Tuesday in conference room 1 of the city-county Government Center.

—Physical Development Committee, 2:15 p.m. Tuesday in conference room 2 of the Government Center.

—Housing and Redevelopment Authority, 4 p.m. Tuesday in board chambers of the government center.

—Board of County Commissioners, 6 p.m. Tuesday in the board chambers of the government center.

—Planning Advisory Committee, 6:30 p.m. Thursday in board chambers of the government center.

—County Commissioner retreat, 9 a.m. Friday in the elections room at 2122 Campus Drive SE.

Rochester Public Schools

—School Board, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom of the Edison Building, 615 Seventh St. SW.

___

(c)2023 the Post-Bulletin

Visit the Post-Bulletin at www.postbulletin.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.