Allegheny County officials will host several public meetings, in person and virtually, to hear feedback on how the county should spend millions of dollars coming from legal settlements from opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The county will receive roughly $90 million in funds through 2038 because of national legal settlements with companies that made and sold addictive opioids.
“The opioid crisis impacts everyone in Allegheny County,” Stuart Fisk, director of the county’s office of behavioral health in the Department of Human Services, said in a written statement. “We believe it is important that we get input from the people living in our communities, including some of those most affected, about how we can use the opioid settlement funds to expand successful programs and to develop new and innovative interventions to target those most at risk.”
Meetings will take place in person:
- Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m., Greater Valley Community Services, 300 Holland Avenue, Braddock
- Tuesday, Oct. 8, 5:30 p.m., University of Pittsburgh Community Engagement Center, 1908 Wylie Avenue, Pittsburgh (Hill District)
- Tuesday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m., Trinity Lutheran Church,616 W. North Avenue, Pittsburgh (North Side)
Additionally, County Executive Sara Innamorato will host a virtual public meeting online on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 6 p.m. You can register to attend here.
So far, Allegheny County’s spending of roughly $14.4 million includes a wide range services and programs related to addiction, including doses of overdose reversal drug Naloxone for first responders, housing and childcare for people in recovery, medication assisted treatment for people in the county jail, and a public education campaign about the harms of substance use.
The bulk of Pennsylvania’s roughly $1 billion in opioid settlement funds is going to its 67 counties, and county officials have fairly broad rules about how the money can be spent.
A legal document known as ‘Exhibit E’ sets out guidelines for how the funds must be used. A statewide oversight panel, the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, also has oversight over how counties spend funds.
Some counties have set up public meetings or task forces to gather input from the public about what spending to prioritize, though many have not.
Through dozens of Right-to-Know requests, WESA and Spotlight PA obtained reports from counties covering settlement spending in 2022 and 2023, including Allegheny’s. The news organizations have posted the records online. Allegheny County also publicly posts some information about its opioid settlement spending.
In Allegheny County, 661 people died of an overdose last year.
