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Leaders say funding details — including opioid settlement and block‑grant rules — remain unresolved
Summary
Presenters said ASOs will be able to administer federal block grants and other state funds, but they did not have a final formula for distributing merged funding streams (MHDS allocations, federal block grants, tobacco/gambling prevention funds); they also said counties should proceed with planned opioid‑settlement spending until further guidance is released.
Regional and county leaders told webinar attendees that although the law will create ASOs that can administer federal block grants and other funds, the state has not yet released a formula for how pooled funding will be distributed across districts.
May Henin said ASOs will be treated as instrumentalities of the state and therefore will be able to administer federal mental‑health and substance‑use block grants. Presenters listed potential funding sources that could be combined into the new district allocations, including current MHDS allocations, federal block grants, tobacco and gambling prevention dollars, and incentive funds.
Opioid settlement dollars: Attendees asked how opioid settlement funds would fit into the new structure. Presenters said those settlement distributions currently appear to remain county‑level dollars and that there is nothing in the enacted law that expressly prevents counties from spending opioid‑settlement funds as planned. Russell Wood recommended that counties proceed with planned investments while awaiting clarification.
Unsettled funding formula: Presenters said they have not seen a final funding formula; they do not know whether allocations will be based on per‑capita formulas, provider counts, service utilization, or project‑based approaches. "We haven't seen final numbers; we have not seen a formula for how those that melded pot will be dispersed," a presenter said.
Next steps and guidance: Presenters said the department will publish more specific guidance in the transition plan and the RFP scopes of work. They urged counties to document current commitments and consult county attorneys about any legal constraints on spending or levying for services.
Article closing: Presenters stressed that program continuity and minimizing harm to service recipients is an implementation priority, but that until the state issues procurement documents and a funding formula, counties and providers will operate under significant uncertainty.
