LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Ingham County will receive millions of dollars in cash from an opioid lawsuit settlement, but how that cash will be spent over the next 10 years has not yet been determined.
On Friday morning, the Ingham County Opioid Litigation Advisory Committee will hear the results of a state evaluation and a series of needs assessments from experts at Michigan State University.
Officials told 6 News this data will inform how the county prioritizes funding requests and allocations from settlements.
The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in conference rooms D and E, Health and Human Services Building, 5303 S. Cedar St.
Commission officials will review data from a statewide needs and impact assessment that Michigan conducted last October and November. Only 23 Ingham County residents participated in the study.
But across the state, researchers found wide disparities in who is most affected by the opioid crisis.
“Medicaid/uninsured respondents were more likely to have multiple overdoses (19%), substance use disorders (76%), mental health conditions (59%), involvement in the criminal legal system (41%), and incarceration ( 30%),” the state report states.
Ingham County officials hired MSU to conduct a survey of county residents. Researchers used a survey completed by 395 people who had used drugs and 195 loved ones of drug users.
Based on these findings, the researchers recommended that counties prepare funding requests to address significant disparities in their communities. These gaps included a lack of housing and a difficult system for transitioning from prison to the community.
Researchers make funding recommendations based on these priorities.
- Ingham County Detox Facility Expansion and Improvements
- Examines regional goals and feasibility to support quality inpatient/residential treatment facilities in Ingham County.
- Invest in higher wages for those providing substance use services in all organizations, especially peer recovery coaches and peer support specialists.
- Examine data from prison-based services to ensure people in prison have access to the services they need.
- Developing a strategy for Ingham County to increase the capacity of housing pathways for people in recovery. This pathway includes increasing the number of recovery homes, extending the length of stay, easing or removing restrictions on people returning to recovery homes, and providing transitional accommodation for people who need guidance to independent living. This includes developing independent housing options.
- Develop the infrastructure to support connected systems by funding quarterly meetings that provide SUD services. [Substance Use Disorder serving] Organize your organization and request grant recipients to attend those meetings.
- Creating an RFP [Request For Proposals] Opportunities that require collaboration between organizations.
