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Chester County details use of opioid settlement funds, cites declines in overdose deaths
Summary
Director Jamie Johnson outlined how about $9 million received by the county from national opioid settlements since Aug. 1, 2022, has been allocated to warm handoffs, treatment, recovery housing, prevention and naloxone distribution; county officials said overdose deaths have fallen more than 20% over three years.
Jamie Johnson, director of Chester County’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Services, gave commissioners a detailed briefing Wednesday on how the county is spending opioid settlement funds and the countywide strategies those dollars support.
Johnson said national settlements across distributors, manufacturers and pharmacy chains total roughly $56 billion; Pennsylvania’s allotment is about $2 billion, of which roughly 85% is distributed to counties and other litigating subdivisions and 15% to the Commonwealth. “In Chester County, since 08/01/2022, we’ve received a little over $9,000,000,” Johnson said.
The director presented program priorities aligned with the national settlement’s Exhibit E guidance, saying the county’s work focuses on expanding warm handoffs (rapid triage from emergency settings to treatment), supporting people in treatment and recovery, and strengthening prevention for youth and community members. Johnson described specific initiatives funded or expanded with settlement dollars: equine-assisted therapy and other clinical supports intended to reduce patients leaving treatment against medical advice; summer camps intended to provide respite to grandparents raising grandchildren; expanded transportation through Chesco Connect; startup and support for recovery housing (a women’s recovery house in West Chester and a men’s house in Phoenixville); workforce-development supports; and partnerships with primary care and OBGYN providers to improve warm-handoff referrals.
Johnson also described criminal-justice interventions supported by settlement funds. Medication-assisted treatment was launched at the Chester County Prison in 2023; “we’ve treated over 960 individuals,” she said. The county also funds certified recovery specialists and treatment court personnel, and has expanded urinalysis capacity for adult probation.
On prevention, Johnson said the county sponsored six pre- and post-prom events across high schools with about 1,900 attendees, expanded prevention advertising (including a fentanyl awareness campaign), and engaged more than 300 faith-based organizations in outreach. She emphasized medication safety initiatives — distribution of lock boxes, training and twice-yearly drug take-back days — and described examples of deceptive packaging for THC products that motivated the campaign.
Chester County is a Pennsylvania overdose prevention program (POP) recipient and distributes naloxone and test strips at no cost. “Deaths in Chester County, because of all that we’re doing, overdose deaths are coming down,” Johnson said, adding the county has seen more than a 20% year-over-year reduction over the past three years and projects further decreases in 2025.
Johnson repeatedly noted the county coordinates with community stakeholders and providers and that some settlement expenditures must align with Exhibit E requirements set by the national settlement. She closed by directing residents and providers to the county website for resources and said many services and supplies the county distributes are free.
