Cortland County office building. (Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/Cortland Voice)
Cortland County legislators, county department heads, and administrators at local healthcare providers gathered last week to discuss how the county will spend funds secured through federal and state legal settlements with companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
The county is working with at least $300,000, said Legislator Paul Heider (R-LD-16), who is a member of the County’s Opioid Settlement Fund subcommittee.
“We are going to host these meetings targeting our youth for prevention. We expect we might open these funds to other areas,” Heider said.
The entirety of the discussion can be viewed by clicking here.
The approved uses for the settlement money include:
- Treatment for opioid use disorder
- Support for people in treatment and recovery
- Connect people in need of treatment to services
- Address the needs of people in the criminal justice system
- Address the needs of pregnant people
- Prevent overprescription and misuse of opioids
- Implement harm reduction strategies
- Help for first responders in opioid-related concerns
- Leadership, Planning and Coordination
- Training
- Research
- Post-mortem evaluation
A comprehensive look at these parameters can be found here.
