ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - As local municipalities begin to receive their portion of funds from the national opioid lawsuit settlement agreement, representatives from across our area are meeting to decide how to make the most of that money.
Over eight hundred million dollars will be distributed in Ohio to combat the continuing opioid crisis. Individual counties, cities, and townships will get to decide where to put that money, but the Allen County commissioners say working with neighboring governments and agencies would get better results.
"I'm hoping that is agency A and agency B and agency C all sit in a room and talk about the things that they hope to do with these kinds of funds to combat the impacts of opiate addiction in our community, that they find commonality, and that they can come up with joint and shared projects," said Beth Seibert, Allen County Commissioner.
Stories from members of different agencies highlighted just how multi-sided the issue of opioid abuse is. From an increase in diseases among non-drug users to families being split up, the crisis causes too many problems to try to apply just one solution.
"You can't think from all perspectives, right? I'm a treatment provider, that's my focus, my understanding, we know how to treat people. But there's a whole host of things that comes from a community in order for it to get well. We have to reduce stigma, we have to do harm reduction, innovations. We have to go where we know these individuals are being served by other agencies and figuring out how we can serve them as well when they're there. They're in every corner of the community, so we need the entire community at the table," said Tammie Colon, executive director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.
Lima's mayor is hopeful that this collaboration will multiply the resources available to people who are suffering in our area.
"That looks like more services for treatment, that looks like even more medical services, that looks like trauma informed care, and also culturally appropriate services as well for individuals that are suffering from the fallouts of the opioid pandemic," stated Sharetta Smith, Mayor of Lima.
The State of Ohio is distributing the settlement in multiple rounds and the group will continue to meet to work on applications for that money.
