Commissioners approve additional opioid settlement funds
The Washington County Board of Commissioners approved dispersing $867,180 in opioid settlement funds Thursday to 13 businesses and agencies in the county that deal with substance abuse and recovery.
It brings the total of opioid settlement money the county has allocated to a little over $6 million. It receives about $800,000 per year from the state as part of the wide-ranging, multibillion-dollar opioid settlement that was agreed to in 2021 that ended class-action lawsuits brought by state attorney generals and local governments against pharmaceutical companies, distributors and pharmacy chains over the opioid epidemic.
Those receiving the awards have been approved by the Pennsylvania Opioid Technical Advisory Group. They are:
– Serenity Farms and Scaffold Builders, $156,318;
– Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania, $73,050;
– Resurrection Power, $47,000;
– Jeff Hancher Enterprises, $45,000;
– A Nickol’s Worth Consulting, $80,000;
-M on Valley Community Health Services, $27,787;
– Washington County Department of Human Services certified recovery specialist, $62,000;
– Washington Department of Human Services training and education, $25,000;
– Peters Township police social worker, $42,500;
– Serenity Farms Inc., $39,300;
– Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services Care, $69,312;
– Washington County Department of Human Services, housing navigation services, $119,913;
– Southwestern Pennsylvania Teen Outreach, $80,000.
Commissioners approved the grants unanimously and with little fanfare. Commissioners approved the first round of grants almost two years ago, and the process hasn’t always been smooth. A handful of the county’s grant requests were initially deemed “non-compliant” by the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, before the trust reversed course and approved them.
The county has sent additional grant applications to the state for preliminary review, and once they receive a response, “we will be submitting these applications to commissioners for a final vote of approval,” according to Dr. John Tamiggi, the county’s human services director.