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County officials defend opioid-settlement spending plan; council presses for metrics on diversion and crisis-center sustainability
Summary
Public-safety staff outlined a $76M cash position in opioid-settlement funds and proposed a $1.5M communications campaign and a $12M/3-year operational package for a crisis center; council members asked for project-level lists, metrics on jail diversions and sustainability planning for one-time funding.
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…
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