TITLE
Title
CREATE AN OPIOID SETTLEMENT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & TASKFORCE COORDINATOR POSITION
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Victor Isler, Assistant County Manager for Successful People
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BACKGROUND
Background
In June 2021, the State of North Carolina reached a settlement agreement to bring resources to communities to begin mitigating the harm of the opioid epidemic and then the State subsequently established a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with its local governments to distribute and utilize North Carolina’s portion of the settlement funds in an effective manner. Guilford County anticipates receiving up to $22 million over 18 years. The County received $835,075 to date and will receive another $1.8 million in calendar year 2022. $300,000 of this amount was appropriated in the FY 2022-23 adopted budget.
Section E of the Memorandum of Agreement requires local governments to either utilize a prescribed list of strategies "Option A", or engage in a collaborative strategic planning process to utilize a broader array of strategies "Option B".
• Option A - Funds may be spent on one or more strategies from a shorter, more defined list of evidence-based, high-impact opioid abatement strategies (MOA Ex. A)
• Option B - Funds may be spent on a longer more open-ended list of categories, including those allowed in Option A, after a voluntary, collaborative, strategic planning process with a broad array of stakeholders (MOA Ex. B)
Staff recommends “Option B”, the more open-ended of the two options, for the County’s use of these funds. Opioid use disorders are complex and are often associated with other substance use and/or mental health challenges. Many individuals with opioid and other substance use disorders have co-occurring mental disorders and comorbid conditions that providers recognize need concurrent treatment. In 2019, 9.5 million adults had both an SUD and a co-occurring mental illness, and of these individuals 3.6 million had a serious mental illness. Under Option B, a local government will engage in a collaborative strategic planning process involving a diverse array of stakeholders and will then select and fund a broad range of abatement and remediation strategies based on the outcomes of the planning process. The development of priorities from the planning should be used a guidance and is non-binding.
To advance this initiative, staff recommends the addition of one Opioid Community Engagement & Taskforce Coordinator position to help coordinate both the strategic planning process and overall engagement with the primary stakeholders or “taskforce” and the broader community. This work aligns with MOA Option A, No. 1, Collaborative Strategic Planning. This work will include
• Facilitating the development and implementation of the County’s strategies to reduce community prevalence in opioid-related injury and death and facilitating activities that promote community change including partnership development, coalition building, and communication.
• Provide program monitoring, evaluation, and reporting around outcomes and other aspects of the various abatement and remediation activities as well as general project management support for this work.
• Ensure the administrative requirements of the MOA, the taskforce, and the funded activities are met including preparing and monitoring annual funding plans, preparing regular performance and update reports, and meeting various other grant and contract requirements.
The current minimum-to-market salary range for this position is $67,368-81,515 annually, pending final grading by Human Resources. Total cost including benefits is $97,537-115,289 annually. Funding for this position will initially come from the $300,000 in Opioid Settlement funds appropriated in the FY 2022-23 budget with funding in future years anticipated to come from the same source.
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BUDGET IMPACT
Budget Impact
Funding was included in the FY 2022-23 Adopted Budget.
NO ADDITIONAL COUNTY FUNDS REQUIRED
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Approve the addition of one Opioid Community Engagement & Taskforce Coordinator position to coordinate the County’s opioid abatement and remediation strategic planning and activities to be funded with the Opioid Settlement Funds that the County is receiving under its Memorandum of Agreement with the State of North Carolina.
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