GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY — The Grand Traverse County Health Department is expected to give an update on Feb. 11 on the process for distributing approximately $1.9 million in opioid settlement funds. The first meeting of a new advisory committee tasked with recommending projects for the funding is expected to take place in March.
The update follows the Board of Commissioners’ adoption of the Opioid Settlement Spending Principles and Plan on Aug. 20, 2025. While $1.9 million is currently available for disbursement, the county is projected to receive approximately $6.4 million through 2040. The Opioid Settlement Spending Advisory Committee, or OSSAC, was established to identify evidence-based uses for these funds and ensure transparency through public recommendations to the board.
The search for community-based committee members attracted 10 applicants before the Feb. 6 deadline. Mike Lahey, health officer for the Grand Traverse County Health Department, stated that five of those applicants were interviewed recently to determine the final committee makeup. The county encouraged applications from individuals with backgrounds in behavioral health, emergency medical services, housing and social services. According to the health department, the committee also sought people with lived experience, including those in recovery and family members impacted by substance use.
The OSSAC is guided by five core values: spending to save lives, using evidence-based guides to drive spending, focusing on class inequities, developing a fair and transparent allocation process and investing in youth prevention. The committee is tasked with reviewing funding proposals from local service providers and identifying priorities that align with these values. A needs assessment and gap analysis will be used to narrow these values into specific spending categories for the community.
To support the advisory committee, the county established a seven-member Public Health Task Force. This technical support group includes the directors of community and maternal health, health educators, mental health and social workers, a local epidemiologist and the medical director. This task force will provide data-driven gap analysis and performance metrics to inform the advisory committee’s recommendations. They will also perform an initial pre-screening of proposals to streamline the final review process for the board.
The health department is also utilizing a Recovery Ready Community Assessment tool. This framework evaluates local resources across a continuum of care that includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery support. The assessment allows officials to score specific community services on a scale of zero to five, identifying where needs are acknowledged but plans are not yet established. This analysis is expected to be completed before the committee publishes its official request for proposals.
Final determinations for the community-based seats on the advisory committee are expected to be made by Feb. 13. The first committee meeting is anticipated to take place during the week of March 2026. A draft request for participation has been developed and will be reviewed for approval by the committee in March or April. The final publication date for the funding request will be shared with the Board of Commissioners following that review.