Committee approves $140,000 in opioid-settlement funds for recovery coach and grants
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Summary
The committee unanimously approved a $140,000 special appropriation from opioid‑settlement funds to hire a recovery coach in the Norwalk Police Department and to fund grants to local substance‑use disorder organizations; staff said state law restricts the use of these dollars to prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery.
The Finance and Claims Committee approved a resolution on Feb. 12 to appropriate $140,000 to the Norwalk Recovery Program, funding a recovery coach position in the Norwalk Police Department and small grants to substance-use organizations.
Mister Daniels (speaking in his capacity as chief of staff and formerly chief of community services) explained the money originates from national opioid settlement agreements and is restricted by federal and state requirements to uses that support prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery for substance-use disorders. "These are opioid settlement funds," he said, and "the law restricts how they can be used"; he described a formal RFP process and said the plan had been approved at the state level.
The committee approved the measure by unanimous voice vote (detailed roll‑call not specified). Daniels said Norwalk is slightly behind in distributing the funds and that the appropriation would allow the city to draw down and deploy the grants and the recovery-coach position in alignment with the state-approved plan.
Ending
Staff will issue the RFPs and begin the hiring process for the recovery coach; reporting and program compliance will follow the state and settlement requirements.