Opioid settlement funds provide a critical opportunity to invest in public health approaches for substance use and overdose prevention. In this webinar, Prevention Institute and Big Cities Health Coalition invite you to learn more about the activities these funds currently support. Jennifer Kolker (Clinical Professor of Health Management and Policy and co-lead of the Policy Core, Urban Health Collaborative, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University) shares preliminary insights into opioid settlement fund planning. Jeanene Fowler (Executive Director of Maricopa County Department of Public Health) offers a local perspective on their work in a county that serves both one of the largest cities in the U.S. (Phoenix) and rural areas.

This webinar, co-hosted by Prevention Institute and SheRay’s & Associates, LLC, focuses on the importance of engaging People with Lived and Living Experience (PWLLE) in decisions about the use of opioid settlement funding. Explore equity and inclusion as key principles for considering the uses of settlement funds. Gain insights into how state and local jurisdictions have engaged PWLLE as decision-makers. Tracy Johnson, managing partner of SheRay's & Associates LLC, facilitates this conversation and engages a dynamic group of panelists in sharing their experiences, knowledge, and insights on working with PWLLE and opportunities to center them in discussions about using settlement funds. Panelists include Dr. Marketa Robinson (Executive Director of Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program, Dayton), Michael J. Nozile Sr. (President and CEO of Gang Alternative, Inc.), Dr. Anthony Carl Pickett (Medical Director/CEO of Maternity Center of Vermont and Vice Chief, Laborist Department at California Hospital Medical Center), and Jeremy Triblett (Prevention Integration Manager at Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services).

As states and jurisdictions continue to plan for the use of opioid settlement funds, it is critical that they consider the importance of primary prevention strategies, impact measurement, and sustainability. In the first part of this webinar, briefly hear from Prevention Institute about how decision-makers can leverage primary prevention in opioid remediation activities and how they complement and strengthen harm reduction, treatment, and long-term recovery strategies. Also learn from a team at RTI International about the considerations for monitoring, evaluating, and tracking progress and outcomes of strategies and activities facilitated through the use of opioid settlement funding over multiple years. Explore principles for effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and hear how decision-makers at the state and community level can adapt and apply an M&E Framework to ensure transparency, accountability, and sustainability.