NC is getting a huge opioid settlement. Here’s what should happen next.

In July, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein announced an historic agreement with drug distributors and opioid manufacturers that will bring $750 million to North Carolina over an 18-year period to support state and local efforts to address the opioid crisis.

As foundation leaders, we support the efforts to put resources back into North Carolina communities that have been most impacted by the opioid epidemic. We urge the state and counties to take a community-driven approach to determine how the funds are distributed to prevent, address and treat opioid and substance misuse moving forward.

This crisis is serious. More than 16,000 North Carolinians have died as a result of the opioid crisis, and every county across the state has been impacted. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the crisis with substance misuse and overdoses on the rise over the past year.

While many philanthropic organizations like ours have invested significant resources throughout North Carolina to combat substance misuse throughout this opioid crisis, we know our private dollars will never be enough to address the many issues facing communities. We are encouraged to see substantial dollars coming into our state to sustain some of these investments and to make a greater impact on the communities that need additional assistance to combat and prevent substance misuse now and for years to come.

We support counties following the community-driven approach outlined in the Attorney General’s settlement details to determine the best ways to allocate funds from the opioid settlement. We also encourage communities to address historic inequities in substance misuse and mental health needs and to ensure communities of color and those who have been marginalized have a voice in developing solutions.

To address this holistically, we need to listen, learn, and take action, with community in the lead. Residents who have been impacted by the opioid crisis, as well as people who have been working to address substance misuse and mental health needs in community, must be included in the conversation and the process to determine the best use of funds to tackle this terrible crisis. We know community members are the experts on what they need to live healthy lives, and their voices are critical as we work to identify additional solutions.

As details are finalized around the national settlement, foundations and other entities are working with various stakeholders to explore how we can best partner with local leaders and support counties in creating and implementing equitable, community-driven solutions to substance misuse and the opioid epidemic.

North Carolinians deserve opportunities for community transformation and healing from the opioid crisis, and funding alone is not sufficient for this to occur. It will take strategic support, community engagement, and technical assistance to ensure community-led solutions are heard, developed, and implemented.

We are committed to supporting the state, county leaders, and communities through this process so that we can collectively beat this epidemic and end the senseless loss of life and trauma that far too many people have experienced due to the opioid crisis and substance misuse.

This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 9:54 AM.