LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky just received millions of dollars to help fight the opioid epidemic as part of a multibillion-dollar nationwide opioid settlement.
The state is getting $8 million, which will be spent soon. But over the next 18 years, the commonwealth will get $842 million as part of the settlement, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced this week.
The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission is overseeing the distribution of half of the settlement money. The chairman and executive director of the commission, Bryan Hubbard, said the other half will go directly to city and county governments for distribution.
For some, the state's opioid crisis is personal.
"I struggle with substance use disorder. And I had children. CPS was involved," said Caralyn Lamb. "I've been personally affected by people dying, you know, friends dying from it. It's a serious matter."
Lamb said she used to be around drugs all the time, and needed help. So, Volunteers of America Mid-States took her in. She's now recovering from addiction.
"It allowed me to be the mother that I wanted to be for my daughter," she said.
For now, Kentucky has awarded a portion of the $8 million settlement money to 25 organizations across the state. Some of them are Louisville-based, such as the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition, Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky and Seven Counties Services. Volunteers of America Mid-States will also get a portion of the money.
"It's a big deal to be able to expand into not just Jefferson County but its other counties that might or may not have as many resources available to them," said Lamb.
The Gheens Foundation (WDRB photo)
Barry Allen, who runs The Gheens Foundation, has been advocating for the grant money for the past two years.
"We have to go upstream. You now, there's a lot of treatment and recovery and that's all good, but we just felt somebody needs to go upstream," Allen said. "It's hard to measure the outcomes in the short-term. That's one of the challenges of prevention versus treatment and recovery is that you don't see the results as immediately as you might in the treatment recovery area. So, we have to have some patience."
He believes the money will help these organizations provide treatment and recovery services.
"We would just like to see the organizations that are going to get the benefit of this, you know, to be able to expand their capacity to serve the children and the families in the state," Allen said.
Terry Brooks, with Kentucky Youth Advocates, said the money will tackle challenges from the opioid epidemic head-on.
"It represents a very, very rare opportunity," said Brooks. "For (us), as a commonwealth, and for literally every community in the commonwealth, to tackle what we know is a crisis. We have to be in it for the long haul. We have to be both patient and aggressive at the same time. We have to take care of immediate needs, but focus on innovation at the same time. So, it is a daunting challenge, but it's even a more daunting opportunity."
Lamb is now giving back to the group that helped her.
"It's really rewarding," she said. "It makes me happy."
For many, it'll be money well spent.
"I hope that it cuts down on the deaths," said Lamb.
The next round of funding for organizations across the state is expected to happen this fall.
Organizations receiving settlement funding include:
- Shepherd's House of Lexington
- Appalachian Restoration Project, based in Barbourville
- Chrysalis House of Lexington
- Isaiah House
- Lake Cumberland District Health Department
- Mountain Comprehensive Care Center
- Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation
- Seven Counties Services
- Young People in Recovery of Louisville
- Family Scholar House Louisville
- Lake Cumberland Community Action Agency
- Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky
- Revive Ministries of Nicholasville
- Volunteers of America Mid-States of Louisville
- Scott County Sheriff's Office of Georgetown
- Taylor County School District in Campbellsville
- Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky
- Cumberland Trace Legal Services/Kentucky Legal Aid
- Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, Lexington
- Legal Aid Society of Louisville
- Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Louisville
- Kentucky Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs (12 corporations across Kentucky)
- Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition of Louisville
- Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment & Education (Operation UNITE) of London
For more information about the settlement and the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, or for organizations wishing to complete a grant application, click here.
For a breakdown of how the money is being distributed and how much, click here.
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