District of Columbia’s Opioid Settlements

This Community Guide will describe how D.C. is spending its opioid settlements and whether D.C. is working to ensure community access to opioid settlement funds. Last revised September 1, 2024.

Total Funds

$50.18 million[1]

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[1] Total is rounded. See The Official Opioid Settlement Tracker Tally. Accessed September 1, 2024.

Allocation

90-100% to the Opioid Abatement Fund and up to 10% to the Litigation Support Fund

Mechanism

Legislation (D.C. Code Secs. 1-301.86b, 7-3211 to 7-3214, 7-3221)

	90-100% Opioid Abatement Fund Share	0-10% Litigation Support Fund Share
Ultimate Decisionmaker	Generally, the Office of Opioid Abatement, which is part of the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health. Sometimes, the D.C. City Council.	D.C. Attorney General
Decision-making Process	The Office of Opioid Abatement distributes funds from the Opioid Abatement Fund with input and recommendations from the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. However, the D.C. City Council has the authority to directly appropriate settlement funds if it chooses to do so.	The D.C. Attorney General directs spending of this share after notifying the Mayor, Chief Financial Officer, and D.C. City Council.
Supplantation	Prohibited	Not prohibited
Grant Funding	Yes. For live opportunities, see Opioid Settlement Tracker’s Community Grant Tracker.	No
Public Input	Yes (facilitation of public involvement required)	No opportunities available (not required)
Advisory Body	Yes (required). See the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. The Commission is required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience.	No (not required)
Expenditures	Public reporting required. Expenditures from this share will likely be published on the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s website.	Neither public nor intrastate reporting required
Updates	For updates on the Opioid Abatement Fund share, visit the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s website, which includes information on its previous and upcoming meetings.	A single resource containing updates on the Litigation Support Fund share could not be found.