90-100% Opioid Abatement Fund
Where do these monies live?
At least ninety percent (90%) of D.C.’s opioid settlement funds are transferred from the Litigation Support Fund to the Opioid Abatement Fund (Abatement Fund).[1] D.C.’s remaining monies “may” be retained in the Litigation Support Fund if the D.C. Attorney General gives the Mayor, Chief Financial Officer, and D.C. Council written notice.[2] The Department of Behavioral Health administers the Abatement Fund and serves as D.C.’s lead opioid response agency.[3]
What can this share be spent on?
Uses of Opioid Abatement Fund monies are restricted to:[4]
Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s and Office of Opioid Abatement’s operations and personnel
District-wide needs assessments[5]
Grants for evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention, recovery, treatment, or harm reduction activities[6]
Substance use disorder infrastructure[7]
Evaluations of the Abatement Fund’s effectiveness and outcomes (including access to harm reduction services)[8]
Publicly available data interfaces to report the impact of the crisis and program outcomes[9]
Audits of the Abatement Fund[10]
“[A]ny other opioid abatement activities authorized by any settlement, judgment, or consent decree resulting in funds being deposited into the Fund”[11]
Abatement Fund monies must be spent on forward-looking abatement uses only and may not be used to reimburse expenditures incurred prior to March 10, 2023.[12] The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (Commission) is additionally tasked to ensure that Abatement Fund monies are spent on “evidence-based and evidence-informed harm reduction, prevention, recovery, and treatment [interventions] for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders” that “have the effect of preventing, treating, and reducing [such disorders] and reducing fatalities.”[13]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission guides, Office of Opioid Abatement (and sometimes D.C. City Council) decides. In general, the Office of Opioid Abatement ultimately decides specific Abatement Fund expenditures after consulting the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (Commission).[14] The Office of Opioid Abatement, which is established within D.C.’s Department of Behavioral Health, supports the Commission’s work.[15]
The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission makes recommendations on district-wide goals, grant application policies and processes, and grant awards from the Abatement Fund.[16] The Commission’s grant award recommendations must consider the impact of the overdose crisis, care access and health outcome disparities, and existing infrastructure and interventions in the areas that a prospective grantee seeks to serve.[17] If the Office of Opioid Abatement declines to implement a Commission’s recommendation, the Commission is entitled to a written explanation and an opportunity to respond.[18]
The Office of Opioid Abatement must conduct a district-wide needs assessment, support the Commission’s activities and integrate its work with existing district planning, develop grantmaking procedures, prepare an annual report, and generally oversee expenditures from the fund, including any awards made.[19]
Although the Office of Opioid Abatement typically determines expenditures of Abatement Fund monies in consultation with the Commission, the D.C. City Council also has the authority to directly appropriate these funds.[20]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
Yes, supplantation is prohibited. D.C. law explicitly states that monies from the Opioid Abatement Fund “shall supplement, and not supplant, any other funds . . . that would otherwise have been expended for such purposes.”[21] This means that the vast majority of D.C.’s opioid settlement funds, including all monies in the Opioid Abatement Fund, must be spent in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing state or local government resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Eventually (public reporting required). Expenditures from this share will likely be published on the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s website. The Department of Behavioral Health is required to annually report on the Abatement Fund’s expenditures and related information for the prior year, and this report then must be published on the Office of Opioid Abatement’s website.[22]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3221(a) (“There is established as a special fund the Opioid Abatement Fund”), 1-301.86b(d)(3)(D) (“The Attorney General shall transfer to the Opioid Abatement Fund, established by § 7-3221, at least 85% of any payment received prior to October 1, 2022, in settlement of the cases and settlements, judgments, and consent decrees specified in § 7-3221(b)(1) and (1A), that was deposited into the Fund, and at least 90% of any payment received thereafter”). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 1-301.86b(d)(3)(D), 7-3221(e)(1)-(2). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(a) (“There is established as a special fund the Opioid Abatement Fund (‘Fund’), which shall be administered by the Department of Behavioral Health in accordance with this section”); Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. Department of Behavioral Health website. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“Using a public health approach, the District of Columbia, led by the Department of Behavioral Health, is implementing evidence-based practices in prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery to save and change lives”) (emphasis added). See also Jenna Portnoy and Meagan Flynn. D.C. Council urges Mayor Muriel Bowser to declare emergency on opioids. Washington Post. November 7, 2023. Accessed August 14, 2024 (describing the Department of Behavioral Services as D.C.’s “[l]ead opioid response agency”). Prior to its amendment by D.C. Law 24-315 Title II Sec. 202(a), D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(a) originally tasked the Mayor with administering funds. See D.C. Law 24-167 (Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Act of 2022, Sec. 5012(a) (“There is established as a special fund the Opioid Abatement Fund (‘Fund’), which shall be administered by the Mayor in accordance with this section”) (emphasis added). See also Letter from D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen to D.C. Administrator Kevin Donahue. Accessed August 14, 2024 (D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen expressing concerns about the Mayor’s proposal to sweep roughly $2 million dollars in the Opioid Abatement Fund into an unspecific account for unknown purposes in the 2024 budget proposal). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(1)-(8). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(2) (“District-wide needs assessments to identify structural gaps and needs related to opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders”). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(3) (“Awards and grants for evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention, recovery, treatment, or harm reduction activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, including evidence-informed pilot programs or demonstration studies”). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(4) (“Infrastructure required for evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention, recovery, treatment, or harm reduction activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders”). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(5) (“Evaluations of effectiveness and outcomes for activities, practices, programs, services, supports. and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders for which monies from the Fund were disbursed, such as the impact on access to harm reduction, services, or treatment for disorders, or reduction in drug-related mortality”). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(6) (“Publicly available data interfaces, including to aggregate, track, and report: (A) Data on opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, overdoses, and drug-related harms; and (B) Outcomes of activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for which monies from the Fund were disbursed”). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(7). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-1)(8). See also Distributor Settlement Agreement , Sec. I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-2) (“Unless otherwise required by court order”). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3212(b)(1), (3). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3213(b)(7) (“The office shall have the power and duty to: Issue, manage, and oversee awards and grants from the Fund”), 7-3212(i) (“The Commission’s recommendations for the awarding of monies and grants”). But see D.C. Code Sec.7-3212(h)(2)(C) (providing that the “Commission shall have the power and duty to: Make recommendations to the Mayor and Council regarding: Awards of monies and grants from the Fund”). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3213(a)(1) (establishing the Office of Opioid Abatement within the Department of Behavioral Health), (b)(2) (the Office must “[s]upport the Commission’s activities by providing staffing, research and policy expertise, facilities, technical assistance, and other resources”), (b)(3) (the Office must “[a]ssist the Commission in preparing its recommendations regarding goals, objectives, and performance indicators pursuant to § 7-3212(h)(2)(A)”), (b)(4) (the Office must “[i]ntegrate the work of the Office and Commission and Fund expenditures with existing District strategic planning related to opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders”). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3212(h)(2)(A)-(F). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(i)(1)-(3). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3213(c)(1) (“If the Office decides not to follow a Commission recommendation in whole or in part, the Office shall provide the Commission with a written explanation for its decision within 14 days after the decision is made”), (2) (“The Commission shall have at least 7 days after receipt of the Office’s written explanation provided pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection to provide a written response before the Office proceeds with its decision”) (emphasis added). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3213(b)(1)-(8). ↑
See, e.g., D.C. Act 25-550 (Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Support Act of 2024), Secs. 5161 (specifying that the “subtitle may be cited as the ‘Opioid Abatement Directed Funding Amendment Act of 2024’”), 5162 (amending D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221 to direct $1.125 million of monies from the Opioid Abatement Fund to specified uses, including $400,000 for “behavioral health and substance abuse targeted outreach services at locations in Wards 5 and 6,” $325,000 “to implement the School-Based Behavioral Health Student Peer Education Pilot Amendment Act of 2024,” and $400,000 “to the Office of the Chief Medical Officer for the purpose of enabling the testing of illicit drug misuse and the development of novel testing methods for opioids within the agency’s Forensic Toxicology Lab and Data Fusion Center”) (as of August 14, 2024, D.C. Act 25-550 was enacted without the Mayor’s signature but still pending Congressional review, with a projected law date of December 7, 2024). ↑
D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(b-3) (“including insurance benefits or District or federal funding”). ↑
D.C. Code Secs. 7-3221(f)(1) (“No later than December 31 of each year, the Department of Behavioral Health shall provide a report to the Mayor, Council, and Attorney General detailing the District's use of monies in the Fund during the prior fiscal year”), (f)(2)(A) (requiring the annual report be posted on the Office of Opioid Abatement’s website), (f)(2)(B) (specifying the required contents of the report, including “[a] listing of all applications received for awards and grants of monies from the Fund,” “[t]he name and a description of each awardee or grantee of monies from the Fund, and the amount disbursed to each awardee or grantee,” “[a] description of the intended use of each award or grant from the Fund, including the activity, practice, program, service, support, or strategy funded, population served, and measures that the awardee or grantee will use to assess the impact of the award,” “[t]he primary criteria used to select each awardee or grantee and its respective award or grant amount,” and “[t]he progress toward achieving the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, Office of Opioid Abatement, and Fund's purposes, such as metrics on improving outcomes and reducing mortality and other harms related to opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders”). ↑
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