LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mayor Craig Greenberg, standing with public health leaders and harm reduction experts, announced a spending plan for the first installment of $7 million of opioid settlement fund Thursday. The settlement funds come from companies that distributed, dispensed, manufactured and sold opioid painkillers and failed to monitor or report suspicious shipments, which led to substance use disorders and permanent harm.
More than $1.5 million will be allocated to organizations working in harm reduction and provide outreach, education, overdose prevention, Narcan distribution, screening for HIV and hepatitis C, and linkage to medical, mental health and social resources with a goal of expanding outreach and services to underserved populations. Meanwhile, $5.3 million will be awarded through a public application process expected to launch in the fall. Funds will be awarded to applicants who submit competitive proposals that align with the approved uses of the settlement.
“Our community has lost too many loved ones, friends and neighbors to opioid overdoses, and no amount of money can bring them back,” said Mayor Greenberg. “According to a report from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, there were more than 2,100 overdose deaths in our Commonwealth last year. Of those people, 505 were our neighbors here in Louisville Metro. This money will not bring those community members back, but we are working to make sure these funds help us heal by doing everything we can to prevent more tragedies.”
Jefferson County is now set to receive more than $57 million in direct payments during the 18-year lifetime of the settlements. This is an updated total following new national settlements finalized last month with defendants CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Teva and Allergan. Last year, Louisville Metro announced it would receive an estimated $31.8 million from an initial round of settlements. Currently, Louisville expects to receive payments of more than $7 million by the end of this year.
To identify the best use of these funds, the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness (LMPHW) relied on both local data and national models for best practices and solicited input from community organizations providing evidence-based harm reduction services.
“Since 2015, our harm reduction outreach services program has helped more than 27,500 people by providing Narcan kits and overdose prevention training to residents and community partners. There have been nearly 11,000 self-reported overdose reversals,” said LMPHW Chief Health Strategist Connie Mendel. “This funding will help increase these efforts and allow more people in our community to access evidence-based solutions and equip them with tools and information to help save and rebuild lives.”
Mendel added, there is much more work to be done. “Last year, while total overdose deaths declined in Kentucky, the state saw an increase in overdose deaths among our Black residents. Local coroner data disaggregated by race has not yet been released, but this trend continues a local trend we have seen with overdose deaths of Black residents increasing nearly tenfold from 2011 to 2021 while overdose deaths among white residents nearly tripled.”
More than $1.5 million has been recommended to allocate to organizations working in harm reduction and provide outreach, education, overdose prevention, Narcan distribution, screening for HIV and hepatitis C, and linkage to medical, mental health and social resources with a goal of expanding outreach and services to underserved populations.
Like the annual budget, these expenditures will need to be approved by Metro Council before funds can be awarded to these projects.
Read more details about the opioid settlement funds and recommendations for their use here.
