The Opioid Abatement Council of Adams County this month will start weighing which groups and their drug prevention and treatment programs will get a boost from the over $7 million available under a 2022 settlement agreement with companies that helped fuel the opioid crisis.
The Adams County organization is one of 19 regional collaboratives and local governments set up to distribute funding for opioid abatement purposes such as drug treatment, recovery, prevention and education, said Peter Padilla, chair of the Adams County Opioid Regional Council. Padilla is also Brighton鈥檚 Mayor Pro Tem.
Adams County received roughly $3.5 million in 2023 鈥� the first year of settlement funding 鈥� and $6 million in 2024. Combined with carryover funds from the first two years, the county expects to receive about $7.7 million this year, said Ben Nash, information insights manager for Rocky Mountain Partnership, which works alongside the Adams County Opioid Abatement Council.
Some of the funding has gone to long-standing treatment programs including the Adams County Health Department, Aurora Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center Inc., and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Other dollars have gone to other organizations that also offer comprehensive drug treatment programs including the Stout Street Foundation, Young People in Recovery and the YESS Institute, according to Adams County.
The Adams County Opioid Abatement Council picks the programs that will get the opioid dollars and is beginning the process of choosing the groups eligible for this year鈥檚 funding. It consists of local elected officials, law enforcement, the Adams County DA鈥檚 office, and professionals to gauge which programs would be helped by the funding, Padilla said.
鈥淭he people on the council know their communities and have a good idea how this funding will help,鈥� he said.
The opioid funds are a boon for the county鈥檚 drug treatment organizations since the money can arrive quickly once it is awarded, Padilla said.
鈥淚t can be in their hands within six months, and it can be put to immediate use,鈥� he said. The funds are also not tied to the federal government and subject to budget cuts, he said.
All of Colorado鈥檚 counties and nearly all of the state鈥檚 municipalities signed onto the settlements reached with Johnson & Johnson and the 鈥渦nscrupulous pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors鈥� 鈥� including CVS, Kroger, Purdue Pharma and Walmart 鈥� who helped stoke the opioid epidemic, according to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser鈥檚 . The state鈥檚 settlement set up a joint framework to distribute opioid dollars in the state.
The Johnson & Johnson settlement dollars will be paid over nine years, with most of the funds paid during the first three years of the 2022 settlement, according to a 2022 Weiser news release. The drug distributor settlement dollars will be paid over 18 years, the news release states.
To date, Colorado is on track to receive over $871 million in opioid settlement funds, according to the website.
Funding breakdowns
According to the Rocky Mountain Partnership, Adams County received roughly $3.5 million and distributed roughly $2.7 million in 2023, the first year of the program.
That first year money was distributed among the Adams 12 Five Star Schools, Adams County Health Department, Aurora Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center, the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the University of Colorado Hospital, the Young People in Recovery program, Creative Treatment Options, the Thornton Police Department and NSpire LLC.
Adams County received more than $6 million in 2024 and distributed under $3.8 million. That money went to Adams County 27J Schools, the Adams County Health Department, the City of Northglenn Crisis Response Unit, the Community Uplift Partnership, Creative Treatment Options, Kids First Healthcare, the Stout Street Foundation, the YESS Institute and Young People in Recovery. The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado Hospitaland the Dept of Emergency Medicine also received 2024 funding.
For 2025, Adams County look to receive roughly $7.7 million.