Wasco County approves opioid settlement contracts with local providers

Wasco County commissioners unanimously approved a set of contracts to distribute local opioid settlement funds to five community recipients, opening the county’s distribution process after months of planning.

The agreements authorize payments to local partners identified in the county’s allocation plan and establish reporting and evaluation metrics for recipients, county staff said.

County staff presented the final contracts and the county’s funding approach. “I am very excited, and I want to thank Molly, Kelly, and Kristen. I'm excited for this day, finally. We've been working on this for probably about five months,” Debbie Jones, a representative of the county’s contract team, said as she introduced the agreements. Jones added the county is “ahead of the state” in signing and distributing its contracts.

Why it matters: The settlements stem from national litigation and are intended to fund prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery programs. Local decisions about how to allocate those dollars shape which organizations in Wasco County receive new funding for opioid-related services and how the county will track outcomes.

Details: The contracts follow the county’s allocation framework dividing funding among prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. Staff said the allocation mix was adjusted after application scoring showed fewer applicants seeking treatment funds; some treatment dollars were moved into recovery to match applicant capacity.

Jones told the commission the county will require brief evaluation reports from grantees and proposed six‑month reporting intervals to track activity and progress as funds are spent. “We do have evaluation metrics that they’ll need to be reporting. If that is something that this commission would like to — we’d like an every‑six‑months report,” she said.

On timing and term: Staff said contracts give recipients time to set up projects and that the county expects funds to be distributed over the next two to three years as settlement payments arrive. County counsel drafted the contracts, staff confirmed. Commissioners asked whether the county or the state places hard deadlines on spending; staff answered the county included language providing up to a 2028 review of allocations and noted federal and state settlement processes have allowed some carryover to ensure projects can be implemented.

Vote and next steps: A motion to approve the funding and management agreements passed unanimously. Staff said county accounting and grant management will request invoices from contractors and begin approving payments and the scheduled reporting once work begins. Commissioners said they expect to receive periodic status updates and may revisit allocation decisions as more settlement dollars arrive.

Ending: Commissioners did not change the allocation amounts at the meeting and directed staff to proceed with contract execution, invoicing and the first round of monitoring reports.