Leveraging Opioid Settlements to Support Sustainable Community-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Infrastructure
Project Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the opioid and substance use disorder crisis, leading to the highest number of drug-related overdoses on record. Today’s substance use disorder (SUD) treatment system is falling short, with services being delivered through fragmented providers often lacking coordination or integrated structures to promote whole-person care. Billions of opioid settlement funding is beginning to flow toward decision-makers, especially at the county and municipal level; however, there are limited resources dedicated toward providing officials with actionable tools to organize and sustain key investments over the long term. There is a unique opportunity to support community leaders to develop, scale, and support local infrastructure that is attuned to the chronic nature of addiction and fill existing gaps in care.
The Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, with Third Horizon Strategies as a partner, has launched a project to support community leaders and to develop and disseminate resources and tools to guide state, county, and municipal investments of opioid settlement resources for their communities. The project will convene experts, conduct stakeholder interviews, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to develop best practices for investments in sustainable, recovery oriented infrastructure.
Funder
This two-year project (July 2022 - June 2024) is supported by The Elevance Health Foundation.
The opioid abatement needs and investment tool is an interactive data tool designed to assist local, municipal and state level leaders working to address the opioid epidemic in their communities
Project Activities
-
News and Press Releases
-
Opioid Abatement Needs and Investment Tool
-
Virtual Roundtable on Opioid Settlement Funding
-
Community Guide for Sustainable Opioid Settlement Fund Investments
Duke-Margolis Project Team
![Frank McStay Photo](/sites/default/files/styles/person_headshot_square_/public/2022-06/Frank%20McStay.jpg?itok=SlZZ5J5p)
Frank McStay, MPA
Assistant Research Director
![photo_yankah](/sites/default/files/styles/person_headshot_square_/public/2023-12/rsz_photo_6.png?itok=xPlXhmD0)
Sandra E. Yankah, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
![Samantha Repka Headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/person_headshot_square_/public/2022-10/Samantha%20Repka%202022.jpg?itok=tfFqA6UE)
Samantha Repka, MS
Research Associate
![Robert Saunders](/sites/default/files/styles/person_headshot_square_/public/2020-07/9B7A2742-portrait.jpg?itok=_d-FgL55)
Robert Saunders, PhD
Senior Research Director, Health Care Transformation
Adjunct Associate Professor
Executive Team Member
Margolis Core Faculty
External Collaborators
Third Horizon Strategies Project Team:
SUD/Opioid Subject Matter Expertise
Greg Williams, President
Tym Rourke, Senior Director
Ashley DeGarmo, Vice President of Client Services
Moses Gur, Manager
Data Design and Analytics
Alex Hryhorczuk, Director of Data Services and Analytics
Chris Hart, Chief Data Analytics Officer
For more about Third Horizon Strategies please visit their website.