Washington County Had $170K in Opioid Money to Consider. I Wanna See What It Actually Does.

Opioid settlement money always sounds good until you ask who actually gets help from it. A government can announce a number, a nonprofit can announce a program, and everybody can shake hands for a picture. Meanwhile, the people dealing with addiction and the families dealing with somebody else's overdose still need something real.

Going into the September 29 Washington County commissioners meeting, staff were recommending $170,342 in opioid settlement spending. That was a PROPOSAL on the meeting agenda, not evidence by itself that every grant had been approved, paid out or successfully delivered.

Now, here's where I actually like the mix. Not every dollar is going toward the same kind of program. One part aims to prevent substance misuse before it starts. One part helps families. One part recognizes that losing somebody has an impact that doesn't end at the funeral. And the Sheriff's Office proposal recognizes that employees responding to overdoses can carry some of that trauma home too.

But I don't think good intentions are enough. In the September reporting, outside applicants had requested a combined $476,443, while staff recommended $145,342 in community grants plus the $25,000 wellness initiative. That means the county was making choices about what to fund and what to leave out.

So show me what the choices lead to

How many kids take part in the school prevention program? How many families actually get services? Is somebody receiving grief counseling when they otherwise couldn't afford it? Are first responders using the support confidentially and effectively? I don't need anybody's private medical information. I need meaningful program-level results.

I'd also want the county to explain why some proposals got picked and others didn't. I am not accusing anybody of misusing the settlement money. The source report says the dollars are restricted to opioid-abatement purposes and aren't coming out of the general fund. That's important.

But once the grants are approved and the work starts, the public should be able to see the progress without needing to file ten requests for information. We already know the opioid crisis has hurt people in this region. That's not something anybody has to argue about.

The settlement check ain't the victory. Fewer families needing the services is the victory.6ix

My take is simple: fund the services that make sense, make the selection process understandable, and come back later with a report on what worked. Because another addiction press conference without measurable help doesn't change much for the people living through it.