Towns To Hold Regional ‘Listening Sessions’ For Opioid Settlement Money

The towns of Brewster, Chatham, Harwich, Orleans and Dennis will hold meetings later this month in an effort to collectively field input on how to use the municipalities’ opioid settlement funds.

While the funds — money from statewide settlements with drug and pharmaceutical companies — are allocated on a municipal level, those five towns have elected to move forward as a region in determining how to use the payments. The settlement money received by communities has to be used according to a set of strategies issued by the state that mostly covers opioid use treatment, recovery, education, harm reduction and prevention, in addition to specific support for pregnant women and “criminal-justice-involved persons.”

Judith Giorgio, Chatham’s health agent, said the towns wanted to work together to strengthen the use of the money through regional efforts.

“It makes sense to us to try and look at this from a regional standpoint, because obviously this issue knows no regional boundaries,” Giorgio said.

Part of the motivation, too, behind the upcoming listening sessions — at which community engagement will be sought — is a guideline from the state to cities and towns receiving the funds to incorporate feedback from people who have been directly affected by the opioid epidemic. A survey is available for community members to take in addition to the meetings.

“We believe that a regional approach to identifying the priority needs of our communities will make the most impact,” said Peter Lombardi, Brewster’s town manager. “Key takeaways from these sessions will inform next steps, and it may lead to more collaboration between the towns in working together on this initiative.”

Payments from the statewide opioid settlements were first received by cities and towns in 2022. By the time payouts end in 2038, Chatham will have received $914,000, according to Giorgio. Lombardi said Brewster had received just under $180,000 to date and was set to receive about $500,000 in total.

“While it is not an insignificant sum, we recognize that we would likely be able to make a greater impact by working in concert with the other towns to pool our resources,” he said. “It is also abundantly clear that these public health issues transcend town boundaries, so a regional approach makes excellent sense in that regard, too.”

Chatham has already started using some of its funds, having hired a recovery coach through Outer Cape Health Services that is available to the public one day a week. Additionally, the town used the money to support Behavioral Health Innovators, a non-profit that provides substance use and mental health treatment programming to youth and young adults on Cape Cod, according to Giorgio.

Also in Chatham, boxes with the overdose-reversing drug Narcan have been put up around town through the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod. Surrounding towns have similarly used settlement funds in order to get those boxes from the organization. 

“There's literally going to be millions of dollars in our communities to be used in this area,” Giorgio said.

The first listening session is Nov. 19 at 12 p.m. at Orleans Town Hall. There will be another meeting later that same day at 6 p.m. at the Chatham Community Center. On Nov. 20, sessions will be held at 10 a.m. at the Harwich Cultural Arts Municipal Building and at 3 p.m. at Brewster Town Hall. A final meeting will be held Nov. 21 at 10 a.m. at Dennis Town Hall. All sessions will be an hour and a half long and accessible via Zoom. Community members aren’t restricted to only attending the meeting in the town they live in.

The sessions serve as a chance for people to learn about the funds, but are also an opportunity for people with either a personal or family connection to opioid use issues to be in a “safe environment where they can come without judgment and express their opinions and have some input into the process,” Giorgio said.

An ultimate goal for the region, after moving forward with the information garnered from the listening sessions, might be an "opioid abatement coalition,” according to Giorgio, that would join the resources together through a fiscal agreement among all the towns. 

“I think we get more bang for the buck if we pool our money, so we can continue doing what we're doing but in a more cohesive manner, not working in silos,” Giorgio said.