Brandy Kearney, director of Public Safety and Justice Services, told the Cuyahoga County Committee of the Whole that the county's opioid settlement fund has been used for both capital and programmatic investments and that roughly $76,000,000 is shown as an available cash balance when accounting for Bellwether litigation receipts and recent federal payments.

Kearney reviewed a history of spending from the fund: an initial Bellwether litigation pool of about $124,000,000 that has been allocated over time to capital upgrades, diversion programming and other recovery supports, plus more recent federal litigation receipts of roughly $4,000,000. She said the county expects distributions from statewide settlements over many years and noted an earlier round of awards to local providers that included capital grants (for example, Stella Maris received more than $6,000,000 for expansion). Kearney reported that approximately $32,000,000 has been used to date for diversion-center programming and other local efforts.

On the committee agenda are near-term spending proposals, including a possible $1,500,000 communications and neighborhood-based media campaign and a proposed $12,000,000/three-year operating request to support crisis-center operations. Kearney said the communications vendor work will coordinate with 211 and neighborhood-based partners and that the media campaign would run over multiple years with neighborhood-specific RFPs.

Council members pressed on two metrics in particular: how many people who used the diversion center avoided jail, and how programs funded with one-time opioid dollars will be sustained after the funds are expended. Kearney said the diversion center had served roughly 5,100 individuals since opening and that a proportion of those were referred to ongoing medication-assisted treatment; she acknowledged the office did not have an immediately available single, definitive figure for "jail avoided" and offered to provide the number of law-enforcement referrals and follow-up data after the hearing.

Kearney also said many of the opioid-funded capital awards were explicitly one-time grants; the county is attempting to structure programs so that service linkages (for example, in-jail medication-assisted treatment and patient navigator supports) can continue through contracts, philanthropy or other grants when possible, but she warned that long-term sustainability is not guaranteed for all projects.

Several council members asked for and were promised a full list of projects funded from the opioid settlement and a spending plan showing which projects remain pending; Kearney said she would provide the materials to council staff.

Next steps: items related to the communications vendor and operating contracts for crisis services were flagged to appear on upcoming fiscal agendas for committee review and potential appropriations.