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| For many counties, the opioid settlement funds won't be enough to address the losses. (Adobe Stock photo) |
Community leaders are finding that "the funds only cover a fraction of their wish list. Some of their projects likely aren't even eligible because of confusion over restrictions on how the money can be used."
Whitley County, Kentucky, is an example of a region that received settlement funds, but county leaders quickly recognized that the money would only scratch the surface of what is needed to spur recovery, the Journal reports. Whitney Wynn, a Horizon Health outpatient facility director, "wants to establish the area's first detox facility. Ideally, she said, such a center could send patients to a residential treatment site. But the settlement money wouldn't cover both projects."
Other regions are using the settlement money paired other funding to create facilities and programs to support change. "In Dickenson County, Va., officials are allocating $250,000 of roughly $330,000 in settlement funds received thus far for the rural area's first residential treatment facility," Campo-Flores and Kamp write. "The project's price tag is $7.7 million, so the remainder is coming from sources including a loan from a regional economic development authority."
Kentucky is expected to receive about $900 million in settlement funds, with "half administered by the state and half going to local governments," the Journal reports. While that sounds like big money, it isn't when compared with what the crisis has cost. "In 2017, Kentucky's estimated cost from deaths and lives undermined by addiction exceeded $24 billion. Per-capita costs there were among the nation's highest."
Robbie Williams, a judge-executive in Floyd, Kentucky, told the Journal the $1 million the country has received so far is just "a drop in the bucket" compared with what the opioid crisis has cost the community. He added, "We have so many unmet needs; we really don't know where to start."
The Journal reports, "Meanwhile, the opioid crisis — which started with pain pills and is now fueled by fentanyl — continues killing at a record pace. "
Whitley County, Kentucky, is an example of a region that received settlement funds, but county leaders quickly recognized that the money would only scratch the surface of what is needed to spur recovery, the Journal reports. Whitney Wynn, a Horizon Health outpatient facility director, "wants to establish the area's first detox facility. Ideally, she said, such a center could send patients to a residential treatment site. But the settlement money wouldn't cover both projects."
Other regions are using the settlement money paired other funding to create facilities and programs to support change. "In Dickenson County, Va., officials are allocating $250,000 of roughly $330,000 in settlement funds received thus far for the rural area's first residential treatment facility," Campo-Flores and Kamp write. "The project's price tag is $7.7 million, so the remainder is coming from sources including a loan from a regional economic development authority."
Kentucky is expected to receive about $900 million in settlement funds, with "half administered by the state and half going to local governments," the Journal reports. While that sounds like big money, it isn't when compared with what the crisis has cost. "In 2017, Kentucky's estimated cost from deaths and lives undermined by addiction exceeded $24 billion. Per-capita costs there were among the nation's highest."
Robbie Williams, a judge-executive in Floyd, Kentucky, told the Journal the $1 million the country has received so far is just "a drop in the bucket" compared with what the opioid crisis has cost the community. He added, "We have so many unmet needs; we really don't know where to start."
The Journal reports, "Meanwhile, the opioid crisis — which started with pain pills and is now fueled by fentanyl — continues killing at a record pace. "
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