Fairfax recommends $2.2M in opioid settlement funds to extend youth, jail and school prevention work

Fairfax County officials on Tuesday recommended using $2.2 million in opioid settlement dollars to expand treatment, prevention and jail-based services they said are helping drive down local overdoses.

Ellen Volo, Fairfax County Opioid Response Manager, told the Safety & Security Committee that the county has received about $7,000,000 in direct-distribution settlement payments to date and has allocated roughly $2.6 million. Volo said the county—s data show local opioid overdoses have "continued to decline" and that overdoses among people ages 0 to 17 "have sharply declined," a trend presenters described as encouraging and partly attributable to targeted prevention and treatment investments.

The County—s Opioid Settlement Executive Committee recommended fully funding additional requests from four of eight previously approved projects (totaling $2.2 million) to keep services running and to sustain program gains. Volo said the funds fall into three buckets: direct distribution to the county, non‑competitive funds available from the Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) and competitive cooperative partnership funds the county is pursuing for a Regional Youth Detox Project.

Darrell Washington, executive director of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, described treatment expansions supported by settlement funds, including a youth medication-assisted-treatment (MAT) outpatient program launched in June 2024 and plans for a youth residential detox. Washington said the county awarded a contract in April to stand up an initial 16‑bed youth detox program at an existing site and plans to build a larger adjacent facility; staff aim to begin services in 2026 and expand capacity after construction.

Sarah Gary, division director for jail- and court-based services at the Community Services Board, reported that two contractor behavioral-health clinicians placed in the adult detention center have served more than 780 people between FY24 and FY25, providing group work, one-on-one recovery planning and appointment-setting at release. Casey Lingon, chief deputy with the Sheriff's Office, noted the county averages about 100 inmates a month receiving medication for opioid use disorder and said a nurse practitioner funded with settlement dollars helps screen, rescreen and prescribe for people in custody, including unscheduled releases.

Fairfax County Public Schools has used settlement funds for prevention messaging. Mike Axler, director of intervention and prevention services for FCPS, said the "Become Unskippable" campaign and related student-led "Our Minds Matter" work have generated implementation metrics including about 3,000 unique landing-page visitors, roughly 58,000 Instagram views and 7,600 Facebook views. FCPS plans to request settlement funds to expand its web and social content, translate materials into additional languages and add vaping and cannabis prevention guidance for 2025-26.

Board members asked for additional details about serving older age groups (25'3 and 35'4), timelines for a nonprofit-access process the county is exploring with the Opioid Abatement Authority and the cadence for future OAA applications. Volo said the county will apply this spring for remaining non-competitive OAA funds for FY27 and will pursue cooperative partnership (competitive) funds for regional projects. The presenters said they will return with more specifics as plans and grant applications progress.

No formal vote was recorded during the committee's discussion; presenters characterized the recommendation as a funding plan the Executive Committee will present to the Board for consideration in budget and grant processes.