The Carroll County Opioid Funding Committee will meet this coming week to select recipients of its second round of opioid prevention dollars. Carroll County Public Health Director Maggie Pauley, who also co-chairs the county’s opioid fund committee, says they awarded $110,000 last quarter, and those funds are already being put to work.
With those awards accounted for, Carroll County still has approximately $220,000 in opioid settlement funds to award, and additional funds are expected to come in from pending settlements over the next decade. According to District 5 Supervisors Mark McCrea, who also sits on the opioid committee, they are also working with area schools to bring a nationally recognized speaker in to talk about the dangers of substance abuse with the county’s students. McCrea says it’s important to remember that these settlement funds are in no way connected to property or sales taxes, as they all come from opioid manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and other entities that contributed to the nation’s opioid crisis. However, the funds must be spent specifically on opioid addiction treatment, prevention, or another similar protocol. Pauley says recipients do need to show the county they are putting the money to good use.
The Carroll County Funding Committee will review applications on Wednesday, Jan. 7, and make a recommendation to the board of supervisors on which requests should be accepted. However, the supervisors have the final say on which projects and how much money is allocated. Learn more about how to apply or how previous awards are being used by following the link included with this story on our website.
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https://www.carrollcountyiowa.gov/pview.aspx?id=21184&catid=0
