Advisory Bodies
Has the state established an advisory body for settlement funds?
Yes. The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (OAAC) was created by D.C. law in 2023.[1] The OAAC’s purpose is threefold:
To make sure that the Opioid Abatement Fund’s 90-100% share is used for “evidence-based and evidence-informed harm reduction, prevention, recovery, and treatment” strategies.[2]
To prioritize and facilitate “public involvement, accountability, and transparency.”[3]
To ensure that the Opioid Abatement Fund’s monies “have the effect of preventing, treating, and reducing opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and reducing fatalities.”[4]
The OAAC is empowered to establish its own procedures and recommend District-wide goals and indicators to D.C.’s Mayor and Council regarding:
”Prevention, recovery, treatment, and harm reduction infrastructure, activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.”[5]
Ways to reduce disparities in access to such resources[6]
Improvements in outcomes and reduced mortality in “traditionally underserved populations, including communities of color and current or formerly incarcerated individuals”[7]
The OAAC must also recommend grantmaking policies and procedures and specific grants for the Opioid Abatement Fund and the “performance and outcomes” of funding recipients.[8] When recommending grant awards from the Opioid Abatement Fund, the OAAC is required by D.C. law to consider, with respect to the area an applicant or grantee seeks to serve, the number of individuals with OUD and fatal overdoses, disparities in access and outcomes, and currently available infrastructure and supports.[9] Members of the OAAC generally serve three-year terms, up to a maximum of two full terms.[10]
Is the state advisory body required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?
Yes. Two members of the OAAC must be individuals who have “experienced opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and recovery,” one of whom is appointed by the Mayor and the other by the Chairman of the D.C. Council.[11] The Mayor is also responsible for appointing a member who is the family member of “a person or decedent who experienced opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use disorder and mental health disorders.”[12]
What is the overall membership of the state advisory body?
The composition of the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s (OAAC) twenty-one (21) members is established by D.C. law, and each may select a designee to serve in their stead:[13]
Director of the Department of Behavioral Health[14]
Director of the Department of Health[15]
Director of the Department of Health Care Finance[16]
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services[17]
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice[18]
Chief Medical Examiner[19]
Attorney General[20]
Chairperson of the D.C. Council Committee that oversees health issues[21]
Five (5) Mayoral appointees:
Member with experience in providing harm reduction, prevention, treatment, or recovery services[22]
Member with professional expertise and educational backgrounds in medicine[23]
Member with professional expertise in educational backgrounds in mental health services[24]
Member who has “experienced opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and recovery”[25]
Family member of a person or decedent with lived experience of opioid use disorder or co-occurring substance use and mental health conditions[26]
Four (4) representatives, one each from the D.C. Behavioral Health Association, Medical Society of D.C., D.C. Primary Care Association, and the D.C. Hospital Association[27]
Four (4) appointees by the Chairman of the D.C. Council:
Two members with current experience of providing harm reduction, prevention, treatment, or recovery services[28]
Member with expertise and education in “public health policy or research”[29]
Member who has “experienced opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and recovery”[30]
The current roster of the OAAC is available here.
Are local governments required to establish a settlement advisory body? If so, are local advisory bodies required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?
Not applicable.
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(a). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(1). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(2). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(3). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(h)(2)(A)(i). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(h)(2)(A)(ii). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(h)(2)(A)(iii). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(h)(2)(B)-(D). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(i)(1)-(3). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(e)(1)-(2). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3212(c)(9)(C) (emphasis added), (c)(11)(C) (emphasis added). This language may be interpreted as excluding someone in active use. This reading is supported by language on the OAAC website that the Commission includes “people in recovery from these diseases” (emphasis added). Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (“Membership of the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission”). D.C. Department of Behavioral Health website. Accessed September 1, 2024. ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(9)(D). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(1). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(2). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(3). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(4). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(5). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(6). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(7). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(8). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(9)(A). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(9)(B)(i). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(9)(B)(ii). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(9)(C). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(9)(D). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(10)(A)-(D). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(11)(A). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(11)(B). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(c)(11)(C). ↑
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