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Council signals preference for prevention-focused Option B for opioid settlement funds
Summary
Rachel Adams presented two allocation options for Monroe’s opioid settlement funds; council members expressed informal consensus for Option B, which shifts more funding toward local prevention via the Monroe Community Coalition while still supporting co-responder and embedded-social-worker programs. No formal vote was taken; staff will return with contracts.
Rachel Adams presented two options for distributing the city’s opioid settlement funds and asked council for direction on a preferred plan.
Adams said the city has received settlement funds over several years and that the current fund balance is "a little over 200,000." She said contracts implemented in 2026 under the preferred option would obligate up to $76,035 of the roughly $250,000 in settlement funds the city has received to date.
Adams described Option A and Option B and how each would allocate shares to programs including the Monroe Community Coalition (a prevention-focused group based in the Monroe School District), a mobile mental-health co-responder program and a law-enforcement embedded social-worker program. She said the mobile mental-health co-responder is typically a 40-hour-per-week position and the embedded social-worker program is about a 20-hour-per-week arrangement, with scheduling and regional sharing depending on partner jurisdictions.
Councillors asked how Option B would affect existing co-responder and embedded social-worker programs. Adams replied with share examples (mobile co-responder funded at about 23.8% in Option A versus 20% in Option B; embedded social worker at 25% in A versus 24% in B) and said funding levels reflect Monroe’s expected share among regional partners. Councilmembers Blair, Beaumont, Hanford, Gamble and Walker voiced support for Option B and emphasized prevention: "prevention is gonna cost less than, trying to help somebody after they've already started down a path," Councilmember Blair said. Several council members requested periodic performance updates and quarterly data presentations from the Monroe Community Coalition if the council moves forward.
Mayor Katabak noted no formal action was required that night and indicated staff should proceed with the planning approach consistent with council direction and return annually with contract recommendations for council approval.
