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Meade County approves $25,000 for ABC’s opioid-response programs after commissioners seek accountability
Summary
Meade County commissioners approved $25,000 for Action for the Betterment of the Community (ABC) to fund local opioid-prevention and case-management activities, with commissioners requiring signed agreements and follow-up reporting on how the money is used.
Meade County commissioners voted to allocate $25,000 in county opioid-settlement funds to Action for the Betterment of the Community (ABC) after a presentation from ABC’s executive director and a brief debate over accountability and budget limits.
Kara Graveman, executive director of ABC, told the board the organization requested $60,000 to expand case management, school curricula and overdose-prevention kits, and warned that some activities cannot be billed to Medicaid ‘‘because they are not clinically related.’’ She said ABC could provide six-month and one-year follow-up reports documenting how funds were spent and program outcomes.
Commissioners expressed broad support for the programs but pressed for transparency and budget discipline. One commissioner said the county had already budgeted $90,000 across several local programs and preferred not to exceed that number for the current allocation; another commissioner called for a written agreement before checks are issued. Pat West, Meade County Sheriff, endorsed prevention work and called education ‘‘huge,’’ adding that opioids and methamphetamine were serious local concerns.
After an initial motion for $30,000, a commissioner moved to amend the request to $25,000 to keep the county within its existing 2025 budget framework; the amendment was seconded and passed. The board then voted on the revised motion. The amended allocation passed with one recorded dissent.
The board directed staff to require recipients of opioid-settlement funds to sign contracts that specify permitted uses and reporting requirements before funds are distributed in January. Graveman said ABC would supply line-item budgets and metrics for review if the county requested them.
The funding decision follows ABC’s presentation of local substance-use data, including a reported 28 suspected overdoses in fiscal 2024 for Meade County and 9 incidents requiring naloxone, and a description of ABC’s prevention and recovery programs operating in local schools and the community.
What happens next: the county will prepare an agreement for ABC that defines allowable uses and reporting cadence. County staff indicated they may supplement funding in 2025 if needed and if budget adjustments are approved.
