Maine’s Opioid Settlements
This Community Guide will describe how Maine is spending its opioid settlements and whether Maine is working to ensure community access to opioid settlement funds. Last revised September 1, 2024.
$236.35 million[1]
[1] Total is rounded. See The Official Opioid Settlement Tracker Tally. Accessed September 1, 2024.
State-Local Agreements (Amended Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding Use of Settlement Funds; Maine State-Subdivision Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement Regarding use of Settlement Funds-2023; Maine School Administrative Units’ Inclusion in Maine’s Recovery Fund-2022; Maine School Administrative Units’ Inclusion in Maine’s Recovery Fund-2023); Legislation (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 5, Secs. 203-B, 203-C); Bylaws (Bylaws of the Maine Recovery Council)
Ultimate Decisionmaker
Local officials for towns, cities, and counties
Decision-making Process
The Maine Recovery Council independently decides how to spend funds from this share after considering input and recommendations from its Program/Grants Committee, a biennial needs assessment, and public meetings.
Localities decide autonomously
Maine Attorney General decides autonomously
Supplantation
Prohibited
Discouraged but not prohibited
Discouraged but not prohibited
Grant Funding
Yes. See the Maine Recovery Council’s website.
Up to each locality (availability and processes will vary)
No
Public Input
Yes (Maine Recovery Council is required to host an annual public forum and consult the public on its needs assessment)
Up to each locality (not required)
No opportunities available (not required)
Advisory Body
Yes (required). See the Maine Recovery Council.
It is unclear whether the Council is required to include member(s) with lived and/or living experience. The Attorney General is required by MOU to appoint an individual or family member “impacted by the Opioid Crisis,” as well as an individual with “substance use disorder and recovery community experience.” There is no further elaboration on how “impacted by” and “experience” are understood or defined.
Up to each locality (not required)
No (not required)
Expenditures
Public reporting required. View the Maine Attorney General’s Recovery Fund reports here.
Neither public nor intrastate reporting required
Neither public nor intrastate reporting required
Updates
For updates on the state share, visit the Maine Recovery Council’s website and subscribe to its email notifications. The Maine Attorney General’s Opioids website also contains a calendar of the state’s opioid settlement-related meetings and events, and a linked FAQs page directs questions about the Council to [email protected].
The Maine Attorney General suggests that the “best way to find out about what your community is doing with its settlement funds is to call your county administrators, or if your city or town is a participating subdivision[,] … the city or town office” and provides a list of participating subdivisions and contact information. See also individual localities' opioid settlement-specific websites, e.g., Cumberland County and Franklin County.
A single resource containing updates specific to the state share could not be found. For general updates, See the Maine Attorney General’s Opioids website.
Last updated