On August 20, 2021, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office joined the historic $26 billion multi-state settlement agreements with pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, and opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. This settlement will bring more than $300 million to Minnesota counties and cities with an anticipated spending start date of August 1, 2022.

Pennington County's expected portion of the settlement is $684,371.02

 

Pennington County is committed to reducing the negative impacts associated with opioid use disorders by convening key sectors on an Advisory Council. The Opioid Settlement Advisory Council will guide the spending of National Opioid Settlement dollars to save lives and prevent further damage.

• For more detailed background on the multi-district litigation (MDL), visit the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office – Fighting the Opioid Epidemic
• Minnesota opioid related data can be found on Minnesota Department of Health’s opioid dashboard.The dashboard contains detailed information on overdose deaths, opioid-related hospital visits, the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed, the prevalence of substance use disorder, and more. 
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – endorsed by nearly 50 major organizations - created the Guiding Principles to ensure proper spending of opioid litigation funds;
  • Principle 1 - Spend the money to save lives.
  • Principle 2 - Use evidence to guide spending.
  • Principle 3 - Invest in youth prevention.
  • Principle 4 - Focus on racial equity.
  • Principle 5 - Develop a fair and transparent process for deciding where to spend the funding.
  • Download Opioid Principles PDF
• According to the Minnesota Opioids State-Subdivision Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the Public Health departments shall serve as the lead agency and Chief Strategist to identify, collaborate, and respond to local issues as Local Governments decide how to leverage and disburse Opioid Settlement Funds. In their role as Chief Strategist, public health departments will;
  • Convene multi-sector meetings
  • Lead efforts that build upon local efforts like Community Health Assessments and Community Health Improvement Plans
  • Foster community focused and collaborative evidence-informed approaches that prevent and address addiction across the areas of public health, human services, and public safety. 
  • Consult with municipalities located within their county in the development of any Community Health Assessment
  • Collaborate with law enforcement agencies in the county where appropriate.
• The Council serves to advise the Pennington County Board of Commissioners as to how to most effectively, efficiently, and equitably spend the Opioid Settlement funds awarded. Informed by the MOA, the Council will both recommend the standards by which funds are spent as well as specific projects to be funded via a Request for Proposals (RFP) process. 
  • Ideal candidates to serve on the Opioid Settlement Advisory Council will;
    • Be open to learning and promoting best practices in opioid treatment, recovery, and prevention
    • Be champions of the work needing to be done and has the time to commit
    • Be familiar with the Request for Proposal (RFP) process
    • Help make decisions that guide how funding should be spent
    • Have a baseline understanding of the current work and data trends
  • Ideal sectors to be represented:
    • Legal Professional
    • Law Enforcement
    • Corrections
    • Public Health
    • Human Services
    • Treatment
    • Recovery (individual in recovery or recovery professional)
    • Board of Commissioners
    • Primary Care
    • Community of color and other communities affected by historical patterns of discrimination, such as Indigenous and LGBTQ+
    • Education
    • Community Member At Large (one per Commissioner district)
    • Addiction Medicine
    • Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
    • Local Municipality (city or township)
    • Veteran Services
    • Other

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