Sweetwater County sets interim oversight process for opioid settlement funds, hires Corona Insights for needs assessment

Sweetwater County commissioners on June 17 adopted an interim approach for managing opioid settlement funds, including formation of an oversight group and an application‑based funding process, and authorized a contract with Corona Insights to conduct a county opioid needs assessment and prioritization exercise.

Accounting: County Grants Manager Christine Marshall told the board Sweetwater County’s local share of national opioid settlement funds is 7.64% and that, as of June 9, the county had received $1,344,535.16. She emphasized the settlement program is fluid, funding is contingent on federal payments, and settlement agreements include compliance and reporting obligations.

Policy and process: Commissioners approved an interim oversight structure that the county recommends be comprised of the Board chairman, Commissioner Slaughter, Chief Deputy County Attorney John DeLeon and Grants Manager Christine Marshall, with Marshall serving as the point of contact and grant manager. Marshall said the county will use a standard application and reimbursement contract process to make awards, require a nexus to opioid abatement strategies and use project accounting for financial oversight. “We would want to make sure the requests have expenditures that are necessary, reasonable, and allocable,” Marshall said.

Needs assessment and contracting: The county authorized a contracting agreement with Corona Insights to deliver analysis of community data, up to 20 key‑informant interviews, and a facilitated prioritization process. The board approved a not‑to‑exceed contract amount of $62,200; the county committee’s recommendation is to proceed initially with options 1 (community data analysis), 2 (key‑person interviews) and 4 (facilitated prioritization), and to add a household survey (option 3) only if the committee determines it is needed after the interviews. Marshall said the Wyoming Department of Health confirmed needs assessments are an allowable use under the opioid abatement exhibits in the settlement MOAs.

Potential applicants: Marshall said early likely applicants include Southwest Counseling, the county Treatment Court and the Sheriff’s Office; she noted Southwest Counseling’s existing state contract lists five service areas and asked whether the counseling agency should be limited to those program areas when applying for settlement funds.

Decision and next steps: The commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the interim process and to approve the Corona Insights contract, allowing the opioid committee to add the household survey only if necessary. Staff will return with application materials and project accounting procedures; the opioid committee is to manage initial award recommendations to the commission.

Quotes and attribution: “Sweetwater County’s local share is 7.64%,” Christine Marshall said, and “as of June 9, Sweetwater County has received $1,344,535.16.” Marshall also said, “We would want to make sure the requests have expenditures that are necessary, reasonable, and allocable.”

Ending: County staff said they will move quickly to draft an application and contract template and pursue the needs assessment so award decisions can begin later this year.