Can I provide input on spending?

• 90-100% Opioid Abatement Fund share: Yes (required). Under D.C. law, a primary purpose of the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (OAAC) is to “[p]rioritize and facilitate public involvement, accountability, and transparency in allocating and accounting for [opioid settlement] monies.”[1] The OAAC is required by law to hold public meetings at least quarterly,[2] though in practice it has convened more frequently. Meeting minutes from the OAAC show that it has included time for public comments prior to the adjournment of each meeting, with members of the community participating both in person and virtually. OAAC meetings must be held in compliance with .[3] The OAAC’s was held on October 25, 2023.

  • . The OAAC has also held public forums to hear “the public’s suggestions, lessons, and other information on how to address the opioid epidemic in the District” and to share information with the public about current funding opportunities.[4]

• 0-10% Litigation Support Fund share: No opportunities available (not required). The District has not established recurring opportunities for the public to provide input on uses of this 10% share.[5]

Can I apply for grants?

Yes. D.C. has previously established settlement-funded grant opportunities for which community organizations were eligible to apply. Visit the (OpioidSettlementTracker.com and Legal Action Center) for the most up-to-date information on settlement grant opportunities for community organizations.

Where do I go for updates?

• For updates on the Opioid Abatement Fund share, visit the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s , which includes information on its previous and upcoming meetings.

• A single resource containing Litigation Support Fund share updates could not be found.[6]

What else should I know?

The D.C. law establishing the Office of Opioid Abatement within the requires the Office to maintain a public website to host expenditure details, annual reports, and other critical information.[7] As of September 1, 2024, this website could not be found.

Citations

1. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(2). ↑

2. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(f). ↑

3. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(f). Note that the does not give the public a right to comment at public meetings. ↑

This Community Guide will describe how D.C. is spending its opioid settlements and whether D.C. is working to ensure community access to opioid settlement funds. Last revised September 1, 2024.

Here are the entities that ultimately decide how each of the District of Columbia’s opioid settlement shares are spent:

• 90-100% Opioid Abatement Fund share: generally, ’s ; sometimes,

• 0-10% Litigation Support Fund share:

D.C. Department of Behavioral Health

• Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

Where do these monies live?

The D.C. Attorney General may retain a maximum of 10% D.C.’s opioid settlement funds in the Litigation Support Fund if the Attorney General gives the Mayor, Chief Financial Officer, and D.C. Council written notice.[1]

What can this share be spent on?

Litigation Support Fund monies may only be spent on:

• Litigation expenses[2]

• Personnel costs (up to $7 million annually)[3]

• Non-personnel costs related to the administration of specified grant initiatives[4]

In a , D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine described the Litigation Support Fund as allowing his office to “use the proceeds from our lawsuits and reinvest them in the community,” stating that they will “use the money to build up our legal efforts and contribute $7 million annually towards the city’s violence prevention efforts.”[6]

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

D.C. Attorney General decides. The Litigation Support Fund is administered by the .[7]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

No, supplantation is not prohibited. D.C. law does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from its Litigation Support Fund. This means that up to 10% of D.C.’s opioid settlement funds may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

No (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.

Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

What else should I know?

Not applicable.

Citations

1. D.C. Code Secs. 1-301.86b(d)(3)(D), 7-3221(e)(1)-(2). ↑

2. D.C. Code Sec. 1-301.86b(c)(1)(A) (“Supporting general litigation expenses associated with prosecuting or defending litigation matters on behalf of the District of Columbia”). ↑

3. D.C. Code Sec. 1-301.86b(c)(1)(B) (“Funding staff positions, personnel costs, and employee retirement and separation incentives, up to a maximum amount of $7 million per year”). ↑

Has the state established an advisory body for settlement funds?

Yes. The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (OAAC) was created by D.C. law in 2023.[1] The OAAC’s purpose is threefold:

• To make sure that the Opioid Abatement Fund’s 90-100% share is used for “evidence-based and evidence-informed harm reduction, prevention, recovery, and treatment” strategies.[2]

• To prioritize and facilitate “public involvement, accountability, and transparency.”[3]

• To ensure that the Opioid Abatement Fund’s monies “have the effect of preventing, treating, and reducing opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and reducing fatalities.”[4]

The OAAC is empowered to establish its own procedures and recommend District-wide goals and indicators to D.C.’s Mayor and Council regarding:

• ”Prevention, recovery, treatment, and harm reduction infrastructure, activities, practices, programs, services, supports, and strategies for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders.”[5]

• Ways to reduce disparities in access to such resources[6]

• Improvements in outcomes and reduced mortality in “traditionally underserved populations, including communities of color and current or formerly incarcerated individuals”[7]

The OAAC must also recommend grantmaking policies and procedures and specific grants for the Opioid Abatement Fund and the “performance and outcomes” of funding recipients.[8] When recommending grant awards from the Opioid Abatement Fund, the OAAC is required by D.C. law to consider, with respect to the area an applicant or grantee seeks to serve, the number of individuals with OUD and fatal overdoses, disparities in access and outcomes, and currently available infrastructure and supports.[9] Members of the OAAC generally serve three-year terms, up to a maximum of two full terms.[10]

Is the state advisory body required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?

Yes. Two members of the OAAC must be individuals who have “experienced opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders and recovery,” one of whom is appointed by the Mayor and the other by the Chairman of the D.C. Council.[11] The Mayor is also responsible for appointing a member who is the family member of “a person or decedent who experienced opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use disorder and mental health disorders.”[12]

What is the overall membership of the state advisory body?

The composition of the (OAAC) is established by D.C. law, and each may select a designee to serve in their stead:[13]

• Director of the Department of Behavioral Health[14]

• Director of the Department of Health[15]

• Director of the Department of Health Care Finance[16]

The current roster of the OAAC is available .

Are local governments required to establish a settlement advisory body? If so, are local advisory bodies required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience?

Not applicable.

What else should I know?

Not applicable.

Citations

1. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(a). ↑

2. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(1). ↑

3. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(2). ↑

4. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3212(b)(3). ↑

Where do these monies live?

At least ninety percent (90%) of D.C.’s opioid settlement funds are transferred from the Litigation Support Fund to the Opioid Abatement Fund (Abatement Fund).[1] D.C.’s remaining monies “may” be retained in the Litigation Support Fund if the D.C. Attorney General gives the Mayor, Chief Financial Officer, and D.C. Council written notice.[2] The Department of Behavioral Health administers the Abatement Fund and serves as D.C.’s lead opioid response agency.[3]

What can this share be spent on?

Uses of Opioid Abatement Fund monies are restricted to:[4]

• ’s and ’s operations and personnel

• District-wide needs assessments[5]

• Grants for evidence-based and evidence-informed prevention, recovery, treatment, or harm reduction activities[6]

Abatement Fund monies must be spent on forward-looking abatement uses only and may not be used to reimburse expenditures incurred prior to March 10, 2023.[12] The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission (Commission) is additionally tasked to ensure that Abatement Fund monies are spent on “evidence-based and evidence-informed harm reduction, prevention, recovery, and treatment [interventions] for opioid use disorder and co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders” that “have the effect of preventing, treating, and reducing [such disorders] and reducing fatalities.”[13]

Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?

Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission guides, Office of Opioid Abatement (and sometimes D.C. City Council) decides. In general, the ultimately decides specific Abatement Fund expenditures after consulting the (Commission).[14] The Office of Opioid Abatement, which is established within D.C.’s , supports the Commission’s work.[15]

• The makes recommendations on district-wide goals, grant application policies and processes, and grant awards from the Abatement Fund.[16] The Commission’s grant award recommendations must consider the impact of the overdose crisis, care access and health outcome disparities, and existing infrastructure and interventions in the areas that a prospective grantee seeks to serve.[17] If the Office of Opioid Abatement declines to implement a Commission’s recommendation, the Commission is entitled to a written explanation and an opportunity to respond.[18]

• The Office of Opioid Abatement must conduct a district-wide needs assessment, support the Commission’s activities and integrate its work with existing district planning, develop grantmaking procedures, prepare an annual report, and generally oversee expenditures from the fund, including any awards made.[19]

Although the Office of Opioid Abatement typically determines expenditures of Abatement Fund monies in consultation with the Commission, the D.C. City Council also has the authority to directly appropriate these funds.[20]

Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?

Yes, supplantation is prohibited. D.C. law explicitly states that monies from the Opioid Abatement Fund “shall supplement, and not supplant, any other funds . . . that would otherwise have been expended for such purposes.”[21] This means that the vast majority of D.C.’s opioid settlement funds, including all monies in the Opioid Abatement Fund, must be spent in ways that supplement — rather than replace (or “supplant”) — existing state or local government resources.

Can I see how this share has been spent?

Eventually (public reporting required). Expenditures from this share will likely be published on the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission’s . The Department of Behavioral Health is required to annually report on the Abatement Fund’s expenditures and related information for the prior year, and this report then must be published on the Office of Opioid Abatement’s website.[22]

Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.

What else should I know?

Not applicable.

Citations

1. D.C. Code Secs. 7-3221(a) (“There is established as a special fund the Opioid Abatement Fund”), 1-301.86b(d)(3)(D) (“The Attorney General shall transfer to the Opioid Abatement Fund, established by , at least 85% of any payment received prior to October 1, 2022, in settlement of the cases and settlements, judgments, and consent decrees specified in and , that was deposited into the Fund, and at least 90% of any payment received thereafter”). ↑

2. D.C. Code Secs. 1-301.86b(d)(3)(D), 7-3221(e)(1)-(2). ↑

3. D.C. Code Sec. 7-3221(a) (“There is established as a special fund the Opioid Abatement Fund (‘Fund’), which shall be administered by the Department of Behavioral Health in accordance with this section”); . Department of Behavioral Health website. Accessed August 14, 2024 (“Using a public health approach, the District of Columbia, led