Brewster Eyes Regional Plan For Opioid Funds

BREWSTER – In 2022, Brewster, along with other Massachusetts communities, including its neighbors, began receiving abatement funds from what ultimately proved to be a collective $50 billion settlement of national and international lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and other purveyors of addictive opioids such as Oxycontin. 

As of this past November, Orleans had received $107,957, Harwich $388,415, Chatham $235,609 and Brewster $179,568. 

More funds are on the way. Those four towns, plus Dennis, have agreed to cooperate and pool their opioid abatement funding with the goal of more effectively curbing the opioid crisis. The five towns will eventually share a total of $2 million, with the balance due over the next few years.

But unlike its neighboring communities, Brewster has yet to spend much of its opioid abatement money to relieve a public health crisis that according to a 2019 NPR report had since the late 1990s cost the nation more than 200,000 lives. For example, as of July, Harwich had spent a local high of $131,620.

Meanwhile, Brewster has spent just $4,000, its share of the $20,000 bill sent to the five towns by Portland, Maine’s Crescendo Consulting Group. Crescendo has been working with the communities since the fall to seek public feedback, coordinate the towns’ actions and develop a collective abatement plan. 

Brewster Town Manager Peter Lombardi said the towns estimate they will share another $25,000 tab as the plan is made final in the months to come and an agreement is made formal. He praised the firm’s work.

“Having earlier completed a general health needs assessment for the Lower Cape, Crescendo knows our communities well,” he wrote in an email. “They have been an excellent resource and convener. Our goal in working with them over the next several months is to create a framework that will result in a long-term agreement between the towns.”

Brewster has not spent more abatement funding, he said, because it is waiting for that agreement. 

“Up to this point, Brewster has refrained from spending our opioid settlement funds because our focus has been on developing a plan with neighboring communities to meet this challenge as a region,” Lombardi wrote. “We are glad for our partnership and look forward to our work together.”

Brewster’s use of the abatement funding is thus likely to increase once the ink is dry on a regional agreement. 

That effort could be gaining steam. Officials from each of the towns gathered with Crescendo on Tuesday, July 28, to begin to set priorities and a timetable for collective use of their opioid abatement funds. 

Lombardi late last week said the July 28 gathering centered on process and timing rather than on abatement specifics. 

“This week's meeting was focused on getting us started. We plan to develop a preliminary shared spending plan over the coming months focused on areas that we all agree will help address our collective needs and priorities,” he said.

A May 21 memo sent to the five towns by Crescendo Managing Principal Katelyn Michaud provided underpinnings for the July meeting. It described the next step as creating a long-term strategic plan “that outlines which activities will be supported through a regional approach, which may be supported at an individual municipal level, and which areas may need more upstream support at the ordinance, policy, or statutory level.” 

That strategic plan, to be created by a workgroup with representatives from each town and then reviewed by town officials, is intended to set the foundation for the formal agreement. 

The memo stated hope for the collaboration: “This effort is unique in its ability to have profound and lasting impact within the region utilizing non-taxpayer dollars. This once-in-a-lifetime funding opportunity deserves the input and thoughtfulness being utilized.”

In May 9 Brewster Select Board minutes, the timetable for that strategic plan was originally pegged as this September, but Lombardi noted last week that the project timeline has been pushed back by a couple months.

Brewster residents have had chances to make their opinions heard, in a November listening session, a May 9 combination board of health and select board meeting, and a survey. 

At the May 9 meeting, Crescendo Director Jo Morrissey presented “abatement strategies” and feedback from listening sessions and a five-town survey with 209 respondents. Included points made were: 

• A lack of 30-day inpatient treatment programs and follow-up upon release. 

• Quality and experience of primary care providers was alleged to be lacking.

• The cost of and/or lack of insurance is problematic.

• Some respondents cited “stigma” on the part of healthcare professionals for those on “medication assisted treatment.”

• A lack of sober housing. Transportation, self-care training, employment, job training and counseling was cited by some.

• A need for embedded social workers in law enforcement, a stronger judicial response on drug dealers and more “support for criminal-justice-involved individuals leaving incarceration,” was cited by some. 

• More support services for impacted family members, education and prevention, were recommended by some.

The May 9 minutes said the Brewster Select Board favored the regional approach, and Lombardi said later that he backed the multi-town strategy for the opioid abatement process. 

“While there are certainly some differences from one town to the next, this is fundamentally a regional issue and we continue to believe that it is best addressed regionally,” he said. “I look forward to our working with our neighbors to make the most impact with the funds we have available.”