Opioid addiction and overdose have been a nationwide epidemic since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite inklings of progress, the crisis has largely persisted.
Over the past few years, however, several multi-state lawsuits filed against the pharmaceutical companies and distributors who perpetuated the epidemic have been settled.
Those settlements required the defendants to pay billions of dollars into a fund that is distributed across states, explicitly for combating the opioid
An overview of state settlement funds
Roughly $219 million of the billions in settlement payments have been designated to Colorado, although funding could increase if additional settlements are reached in the future. The latest opioid-related settlement was reached in April of this year.
A legal framework for the settlement dollars requires that: 10% be awarded to the state government, 10% be awarded for addiction-related infrastructure, 20% be directly awarded to local government agencies (counties, cities and towns) and 60% be awarded to “regional opioid abatement councils” or ROACs.
Regional councils are independent volunteer boards that comprise one large county or multiple counties; they facilitate local awards, track progress and ensure accountability.
While the statewide council determines infrastructure grant awards, regional councils often assist organizations in their area with applying.
According to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, this was the fourth, and by far the highest-demand, round of infrastructure grants. More than 50 applications were submitted, requesting nearly $40 million.
crisis. A total of $11 million of those settlement dollars were recently awarded through Colorado’s latest round of grants, which focused on infrastructure funding.
“As attorney general, I have prioritized our work addressing the opioid crisis, making important investments in drug treatment, recovery, prevention and education efforts across the state,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in an April press release. “Those investments … are making a difference and saving lives.”
This Sentinel exclusive highlights how the Grand Valley and the surrounding region will benefit from the latest round of grants.
MILLIONS AWARDED FOR MOBILE SOLUTIONS
Despite demand exceeding available funds, more than $2.2 million was directly awarded to entities across northwestern Colorado.
One notable investment was a $500,000 award to Memorial Regional Health — which serves Moffat, Routt and Rio Blanco counties — and Grand County Emergency Medical Services.
The grant was divvied so that Memorial Regional Health will receive $192,000 over the next two years, which Memorial Regional Health Crisis Behavioral Health Manager Austin Hill said the hospital will use to establish an in-house secure transport service for behavioral health patients.
Since crisis and detox services are limited in the region, Hill said that patients seek care at the hospital’s emergency department. When that happens, the hospital is required to transfer the patient to an appropriate facility with a transport service specializing in mental health crises.
“Being so rural and so geographically distant, we sometimes struggle to find placement for our patients. (And both transport providers) we use are coming out of Grand Junction, so if it’s 11 p.m., we often cannot secure transportation until the next day.
“If we can’t get transportation until the next day, we have lost (facility) placement for our patients. Then we’re starting over the next morning. So this will directly increase the access to care that our patients have in rural Colorado,” Hill said.
He added that the hospital is projected to facilitate nearly 90 transports by the end of this year. And if the patient is uninsured, the hospital absorbs the cost, averaging $1,062 per ride.
According to Memorial Regional Health Population Health Director Paula Belcher, providing the service in-house should notably reduce that cost and resulting strain on the rural hospital’s thin margins.
She added that timeliness can substantially impact patient success, since their willingness to enter treatment is often volatile.
The remaining $308,000 will help launch a multi-agency crisis co-response program in Grand County.
According to Grand County EMS Chief Austin Wingate, the program will pair a specially trained paramedic with a mental health clinician to respond to locals experiencing a mental, behavioral or substance-related crisis.
The majority of people prefer to stay at home when sick, especially if the alternatives are …
“It is designed to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time by prioritizing stabilization, clinical assessment, and connection to community-based services rather than default transport to the emergency department or jail,” Wingate said in a statement to the Sentinel.
EXPANDING ACCESS BEYOND GRAND JUNCTION
An additional $509,000 was awarded to the same region to expand addiction recovery and prevention infrastructure.
According to Bri Robles, who leads the northwest opioid council on behalf of the Steadman Group, the money will expand peer recovery support and stabilize sober living capacity across the region.
Specifically, she said the funds will be spent on bolstering communications and awareness of services among locals, as well as expanding personnel across three recovery organizations: the faith-based Travis House in Steamboat Springs, the women-exclusive Love Life sober living home in Steamboat and the multi-faceted Health Partnerships organization serving Routt and Moffat counties.
She added that there are sustainability plans in place to ensure the new positions are preserved after the funding dries up.
“Being in rural Colorado, it’s tough to build your workforce, especially around substance use services, prevention, treatment and recovery,” Robles said. “But expanding the workforce … really offers the community a broader way to access those services.”
Nearly $700,000 was awarded to YouthZone, an organization serving at-risk and justice-involved juveniles across Rifle, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Aspen.
The funding will support extensive renovations of its Rifle office, 136 E. 12th St., which YouthZone Development Director Ali Naaseh-Shahry said is approaching the end of its useful lifecycle. Last year’s emergency roof repairs were just one of many indicators.
According to Naaseh-Shahry, roughly 60% of their clientele in the justice system were charged with drug or alcohol use or possession. Among many other family services, he said the organization facilitates diversion and restorative justice programming that focuses on education and addiction recovery.
Naaseh-Shahry added that their program participants avoid recidivism at roughly double the national average, with between 80% and 90% of clientele staying out of trouble while engaged with YouthZone.
Mesa County received roughly $500,000 in recent infrastructure awards, which will help establish access to mental health care in Orchard Mesa through the Counseling and Education Center.
According to CEC Executive Director Hali Nurnberg, behavioral health care providers are already sparse in Mesa County. Compounding the issue, she said, existing providers are located exclusively along downtown Grand Junction and stretches of Patterson Road.
While a few outliers can be found in Fruita and Palisade, Nurnberg said that she cannot identify a single behavioral or mental health provider in the Orchard Mesa area.
“And there are nearly 7,000 residents (in that neighborhood). When you look at the demographics of Orchard Mesa, (residents have) a much higher rent burden, more non-traditional families … and a high suicide burden.
“We also realize that there are several schools there, and it’s the first neighborhood on your way into town from the southern parts of the county … like Whitewater, which has no services,” Nurnberg
Courtesy of the Counseling and Education Center
The Counseling and Education Center is transforming the five-bed, four-bath home in Orchard Mesa, 2702 B½ Road, into a new practice site, bringing mental health care into a neighborhood that CEC Executive Director Hali Nurnberg said currently has zero local access. The CEC was one of the entities across northwestern Colorado to receive some of the $2.2 million in opiod settlement funds.
Courtesy of the Counseling and Education Center
said. With the expansion, she added that the CEC’s capacity will jump from roughly 350 clients per year to upwards of 800.
Between the recent infrastructure funding and an additional $500,000 awarded through last year’s regional grant cycle, Nurnberg said about $800,000 went towards infrastructure and capital spending.
She added that the remaining $200,000 will support supervision capacity for social workers seeking licensure hours, further train licensed CEC providers in substance abuse — primarily through dual accreditation in addiction counseling — and help establish a “hub model” that screens patients and facilitates additional services beyond its organization.
“Our hope is that we can be partners and just say, ‘Show up, whatever you’re needing, even if we’re not it, we will help find you the right place.’
“(We also plan to) bring partner organizations on-site, so our community members don’t have to figure out transportation if they’re living in the Orchard Mesa neighborhood,” Nurnberg said.
Cassidy Lujan, executive director for United Way of Mesa County, which administers regional grants on behalf of the county’s opioid council, added that the infrastructure money is just a drop in the bucket.
Specific to regional council funding, Mesa County has seen more than $3.7 million in settlement money since 2023.
SHARING SERVICES STATEWIDE
Beyond regional funding, the recent grants will also establish programs that benefit entities across all of Colorado.
Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration received $712,500 earmarked for statewide “crisis system modernization.”
According to BHA Commissioner Stephanie Beasley, the money will help withdrawal management (detox) sites make the capital upgrades required to prescribe controlled substances and operate a comprehensive “behavioral health crisis center.”
The comprehensive center is a new framework that Beasley said the state is introducing to better align with national regulations and best practices.
“Oftentimes, people who are intoxicated (and) experiencing a mental health crisis are turned away from crisis centers. Crisis centers are typically not equipped to manage withdrawal from substances, and (detox units are not equipped for intensive crisis care or to prescribe controlled substances).
“The behavioral health crisis center will be a 24/7, walk-in facility providing immediate assessment, de-escalation and (medical) stabilization for individuals experiencing mental health and/or substance use crises,” Beasley said.
A BHA spokesperson said a quarter of the funds will be allocated through Rocky Mountain Health Plans, which administers Medicaid services for the BHA across the region comprising western Colorado.
They added that each of Colorado’s four BHA regions will receive roughly $178,000 for the capital
Courtesy of the Behavioral Health Administration
The Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations (BHASOs) comprise four regions that will enable localized entities to manage services on behalf of the Behavioral Health Administration. Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration received $712,500 from opiod settlement funds earmarked for statewide “crisis system modernization.” According to BHA Commissioner Stephanie Beasley, the money will help withdrawal management (detox) sites make the capital upgrades required to prescribe controlled substances and operate a comprehensive “behavioral health crisis center.”
Courtesy of the Behavioral Health Administration
improvements. The University of Colorado Anschutz received two awards of just over $300,000. According to a press release, the first grant will help develop a public dashboard that tracks opioid settlement spending, awardee activity and outcomes to improve statewide transparency and coordination.
The second grant will establish a grant-writing assistance program that local governments and nonprofits can utilize to secure additional opioid response funding.
The Colorado Department of Early Childhood obtained roughly $637,000 to bolster support for families impacted by substance abuse.
The effort will primarily focus on increasing peer support for parents in recovery, childcare access and training that help medical providers identify and address substance use disorders in a family unit.
A spokesperson for the department added that they are only the fiscal agent, and the work will be primarily carried out in partnership with Illuminate Colorado and the Family Resource Center Association.
“These investments strengthen Colorado’s coordinated statewide response to the opioid crisis, while highlighting the ongoing need for expanded services across Colorado,” a May press release from the Colorado AG’s Office stated.
An overview of state settlement funds Roughly $219 million of the billions in settlement payments have been designated to Colorado, although funding could increase if additional settlements are reached in the future. The latest opioid-related settlement was reached in April of this year. A legal framework for the settlement dollars requires that: 10% be awarded to the state government, 10% be awarded for addiction-related infrastructure, 20% be directly awarded to local government agencies (counties, cities and towns) and 60% be awarded to “regional opioid abatement councils” or ROACs. Regional councils are independent volunteer boards that comprise one large county or multiple counties; they facilitate local awards, track progress and ensure accountability. While the statewide council determines infrastructure grant awards, regional councils often assist organizations in their area with applying. According to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, this was the fourth, and by far the highest-demand, round of infrastructure grants. More than 50 applications were submitted, requesting nearly $40 million.