The funding to build a governance structure around the use of Baltimore’s opioid settlement winnings and begin aiding opioid recovery programs passed a major benchmark in the city council Tuesday.
Members of the Appropriations and Budget Committee voted to approve $14 million in initial funding to jumpstart the mechanisms that will oversee the possibly billions of dollars coming into Baltimore from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
“For the first time ever we have resources to be able to support the incredible efforts that have gone on for a long time in our city, and to truly engage a framework to attack this issue at its root,” said City Council President Zeke Cohen. “This is going to be a great partnership, not just between the administration and the council, but between city government and the communities that we serve.”
The initial funding pays for the creation of an opioid restitution board, which will be made up of experts and citizens, that will make recommendations on how the city can best spend the funds to stem opioid overdoses and educate people about their dangers.
Other funding will go into the legalities of forming a trust to handle the money and hiring staff for the oversight of awarding grants.
A total of $10 million will go to grants for nonprofit organizations to kick off the first tranche of work, and another $500,000 will go to rebuilding the Druid Health Clinic, which has been in operation since 1960.
The bills will still need approval from the full council.
However, the committee passage marks the beginning of Baltimore’s use of the funds it won from multiple settlements and court cases over the last two years.
The city has already taken in $668 million from companies like CVS and Cardinal Health.
Baltimore is still waiting for a decision from Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill on how much McKesson and Amerisource Bergen (now Cencora) will have to pay in abatement.
The city is asking for more than $5 billion.
Mayor Brandon Scott released a plan for how Baltimore will steward the funds it receives.
“It isn’t enough to win the funds — we need to put them to work,” Scott said last August. “This executive order will ensure that restitution funds are governed responsibly, transparently, and effectively in order to support our residents and communities most affected by the epidemic — not just during this administration, but for years to come.”
An executive order signed by Scott states that the funds will be used purely for substance abuse and overdose programs and services. That includes treatment, recovery, harm reduction and social determinants to health associated with the opioid epidemic. The order also sanctions the use of the funds for infrastructure relating to those programs and their evaluation.
The money can go to both governmental and private organizations for those purposes.
The city is creating a trust fund to stash the money it won. A city official said it will be used much like a university endowment where the funds will be invested and the interest will be used for future programs.
However, to ensure the money is used, the executive order mandates that at least 5% of the funds are spent annually on programs and services.
The city is creating two new positions, an executive director of overdose response and an opioid restitution program manager to directly oversee programs and grants.
The city will also provide multiple strategies and community plans on a regular basis for how best to allocate the funding it receives.
