Local recovery leaders urge Delray Beach to prioritize paramedicine program for opioid settlement funds

At the June 2 meeting, Lisa Franklin, executive director of the Delray Beach Drug Task Force, urged the City Commission to prioritize the fire-rescue paramedicine program when allocating opioid settlement funds.

Franklin told the commission that settlement dollars are restitution meant to respond to lives lost and community harm from the opioid epidemic; she called for limited funds to be spent where measurable, evidence-based impact is greatest. The task force recommended paramedicine because it targets individuals at highest risk (those overdosing, cycling through emergency services, or disconnected from long-term care) and can bridge crisis response with treatment access and recovery supports.

Franklin said the program operates in other jurisdictions with strong evidence of return on investment and that school-based prevention, while useful, does not reach the populations most harmed by the opioid epidemic. She asked commissioners to prioritize programs that address overdose response, post-overdose follow-up, and adult access to care.

Commissioners did not take a vote on funding allocations at the meeting; staff said numbers presented during an earlier briefing would be clarified in a follow-up staff presentation next week. Franklin27s request places paramedicine and post-overdose outreach at the front of the public debate about how Delray Beach should use its settlement share.

The commission will consider staff27s analysis in coming weeks as it develops a recommended allocation plan for the settlement dollars.