Fulton County approves $160,000 opioid-settlement plan to add a Certified Recovery Specialist

Fulton County commissioners unanimously approved a plan on Dec. 16, 2025, to use $160,000 in Opioid Settlement Funds to expand local recovery services by adding a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) to the Fulton County Family Partnership Team. Executive Development Director Julie Dovey presented the plan to the board, and Commissioner Hervey P. Hann moved for approval; the motion passed with all commissioners voting in favor.

The county said the funding will be drawn from Opioid Settlement Funds and is intended to "Expand Certified Recovery Specialist Services by adding another CRS to Fulton County Family Partnership Team," as spelled out in the plan submitted by Dovey. The board recorded the approval as a formal action during its regular meeting; no additional implementation timeline or ongoing budgetary commitments were specified in the minutes.

The approval follows routine county business that day including votes on minutes, payables and personnel matters. The minutes do not specify whether the $160,000 allocation is a one-time expenditure or covers multiple years of salary and program costs; the record also shows a separate payables line for Fund 276 (Opioid Settlement Funds) of $46,105.21 on the Dec. 16 vendor list, which is a separate accounting entry in the same meeting record.

Next steps recorded in the minutes: the board approved the plan and no additional conditions or amendments were listed. The minutes do not state whether the board directed staff to return with a spending breakdown, recruitment timetable, or performance metrics for the new CRS position.