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DENTON – The Caroline County Commissioners held a public hearing Oct. 28 to begin taking next steps towards using funds from Maryland’s Opioid Restitution Fund.
The public hearing is required by the state as one of the conditions for receiving settlement funds. As of the 2024 fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, “Maryland has received distributions through seven prescription opioid-related legal settlements. Maryland’s Opioid Restitution Fund was established in 2019 to receive any funds received at the state level, whether designated for use at the state’s discretion or to be distributed to local subdivisions,” according to the state website stopoverdose.maryland.gov.
As of FY2024, Maryland has received over $201 million, $158,381,575 of which was deposited into the Opioid Restitution Fund and $42,812,147 of which was distributed directly to local jurisdictions.
County Grants Coordinator Stacy Seward reported that the county has access to two types of funds: local settlement funds and targeted abatement grant/funds (TAG).
Local settlement funds go directly to the county and are 25% of total settlements. To date, Caroline County has received $ 461,152. Funds come into the county on a year-to-year basis.
TAG funds are received by the state and are awarded to counties in a noncompetitive grant and make up 45% of total settlements. So far, Caroline has received $808,266. Each county is required to file a Local Abatement Plan to receive these funds. Caroline County’s plan was approved Sept. 20, 2024, and is good for five years, after which the plan has to be revised.
Seward said many of the payments are recurring until 2038, and new settlements are still occurring. Gov. Wes Moore’s office “has been very helpful with these funds,” she said.
However, none of that money has been distributed yet.
That’s because the plan states that a county will create a grant application process for interested parties to apply for TAG funds, and county officials are still in the process of creating an application that’s airtight legally and aligns with at least one of the abatement strategies listed on a detailed document called Exhibit E, a list of allowable opioid remediation uses.
Once the draft application is tested and required documents are determined, the next steps will be to determine the process and timeline. Once the draft process is nailed down, a more comprehensive rollout is planned for FY2027, Deputy County Administrator and Finance Director Daniel Fox said.
Fox said his office recommended the first round of “mini-grants” be capped at $15,000 to $20,000.
Commission President Travis Breeding expressed concern about using the funds to pay for county employees managing the funds and the distribution process. “I know it's addressing a problem, but it's … a load put on the county that's not funded to a degree,” he said.
“Yes, it's going to be a extensive process, and I'm sure take a bit of time from Stacy and myself,” Fox said.
Expressing interest in the funds during the public hearing was Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Heather Price and Michelle Bethke, Problem Solving Court Coordinator.
Price said the holistic, multi-agency approach of Problem Solving Court as a “post-sentencing diversionary program that affects people that have co-occurring substance use disorders, as well as mental health issues – and they're involved in the criminal justice system.” She said PSC meets many of the requirements in Exhibit E.
The funds could be used for a variety of needs, considering Problem Solving Court’s participants’ needs related to housing and transportation, as well as the need for national training for staff. Currently, 15 people are enrolled in the PSC program.
Price said an advisory board is exploring organizing the PSC as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Breeding cautioned that “the first thing we've got to do is make sure there's enough money for our medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program, because we're statutorily required to do that,” he said. “Beyond that, it sounds like the program fits perfectly to try to prevent recidivism and … ultimately that's what we want: a clean, safe community.”
To view Exhibit E: List of Opioid Remediation Uses, visit the PDF document at https://stopoverdose.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2023/05/Janssen-National-Agreement-Exhibit-E.pdf
