Compass Point asks Meade County for $30,000 from opioid-settlement funds to expand treatment and prevention

Compass Point, a behavioral-health provider in western South Dakota, asked Meade County commissioners for a $30,000 allocation from the county's opioid-settlement funds to expand local treatment, intervention and prevention services.

"My goal here is to, number one, increase our treatment and our intervention services," Hillary Schwab, Compass Point's executive director, told the commission. She described plans to use settlement money for housing, transportation and medication‑assisted treatment, to hire staff with clinical credentials and to partner with law enforcement, the medical community and local schools for prevention and education.

Janine Walker, president of Compass Point's board, said the organization operates the region's only inpatient treatment facility in the area and that demand outstrips capacity: "Our bed book wait list is out until December" for those seeking residential treatment, she said.

County staff noted that Meade County has approximately $231,000 currently available in opioid-settlement funds and that recipients must report annual expenditures back to the state under the settlement agreements. Commissioners and staff discussed using settlement funds for one‑time capacity increases rather than recurring operating costs, and asked for more specificity on local measurable outcomes and how Compass Point would serve people in Meade County as opposed to broader regional clients.

No final appropriation was made at the meeting; commissioners discussed including the request in next year's budget or allocating funds from the settlement fund with reporting conditions.