Antrim County commissioners unanimously voted to spend $50,000 dollars of opioid settlement money on transportation and harm reduction.
The funding is the first batch of Antrim County’s money from numerous lawsuits against opioid distributors ordered to pay billions to communities across the country. The county is set to receive over $1.5 million over the next two decades.
The county will give $45,000 of its opioid settlement dollars to Addiction Treatment Services of Traverse City to fund a program that provides transportation to those needing in-person withdrawal management and placement in residential care facilities.
Another $5,000 will go to the Northern Michigan Opioid Response Consortium in Gaylord to fund distribution of naloxone, which is used to prevent overdose deaths.
“This is a whole problem,” said Antrim County Administrator Jeremy Scott. “We don't want individual agencies just continuing to do whatever they might have done. We want them to work together.”
Last year, county commissioners tapped the Antrim County Community Collaborative (ACCC) to begin researching how to equitably distribute opioid settlement funds. After holding a focus group in May 2024, ACCC drafted a plan called the “Antrim County Collaborative Strategic Planning Process.”
ACCC put out a request for proposals in December 2024 for organizations to apply to receive funds. The RFP offered up to $100,000 in individual awards. The county received seven applications by the Jan. 14, 2025 deadline.
In a county commission meeting Thursday, Chairman William Hefferan praised ACCC for being selective with which organizations were recommended to get a share of the funds.
“I consider this a slow rollout of these funds,” Hefferan said. “This is a methodical rollout and I’m happy to see that as opposed to the alternative.”
Also required by the “Strategic Planning Process,” organizations who accept a share of the county’s opioid settlement funds will be required to submit written reports that include data regarding the use of those funds.
In the April 3 meeting, ACCC Community Development Coordinator Ranae McCauley said this will provide more transparency and evidence for how the funds are being used.
Antrim County is ahead of some other rural counties in northern Michigan in spending its money. Officials from Cheboygan, Emmet and Otsego counties say they're still gathering information and forming oversight committees and survey populations. Though each of these counties told IPR they are expecting to grant funds this summer.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Interlochen Public Radio is working to track how our communities are putting the money to use.
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