Recovery group seeks $200,000 of opioid settlement funds to sustain Price recovery center; commission tables decision

Representatives of Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA) asked the Carbon County Commission on July 2 for a $200,000 allocation from opioid settlement funds tied to the Purdue Pharma/Sackler settlement to sustain and expand a recovery community center in Price.

Evan Doan, identified as USARA’s advocacy and public policy director, said USARA is a recovery community organization that is not clinical and therefore cannot bill insurance or receive Medicaid payments. He said the requested funds would support paid staff and sustain the center’s services, which include coaching, peer support and connection to other services. Mercedes Morgan, who manages the recovery center locally, said the center has provided voluntary one-on-one coaching 3,350 times (data reported by staff) and works with the county jail, courts and child welfare services to support individuals and families.

Commissioners said they value USARA’s work and noted federal funding changes have prompted the current request. One commissioner said county leaders plan to convene all agencies that have received opioid settlement funds for follow-up reporting in the next two weeks and to use that session to map allocations and assess outcomes. The commission indicated support for funding USARA’s services in principle but said it needed a short period to evaluate all requests and review progress by funded agencies.

A motion to table consideration of awarding the requested funds until the county had completed evaluations of all organizations requesting opioid settlement funds was made, seconded and adopted by voice vote. The commission recorded the motion as carried and did not approve the $200,000 at the July 2 meeting.