Updates on the Opioid Settlement Funding Disbursement

Story by Kirk Lane & Tenesha Barnes Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership

In 2022, the Arkansas Municipal League (AML) and the Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) formed the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership (ARORP). ARORP will ensure that opioid settlement dollars are dispersed to vetted organizations that are using evidence-based programs and strategies to abate the opioid epidemic in Arkansas’ cities and counties. Also in 2022, the cities and counties began receiving opioid settlement funding to abate and alleviate the impact of pharmaceutical companies’ damaging role in Arkansas’ opioid epidemic.

Before receiving settlement dollars, each applicant must obtain signature approval from the county judges and mayors in their jurisdiction. The ARORP and the ARORP Advisory Board will thoroughly vet each applicant, allowing city and county leaders to provide a valuable perspective about the organization’s fit in their community.

Turning the state purple

Each time ARORP disburses settlement dollars to a project in opioid prevention, treatment, or recovery, we turn the county where the project originated purple on the map. Our goal is to turn the entire state of Arkansas purple, meaning that every county has received opioid settlement funding to support abatement projects in your community.

As of February 2023, ARORP has put $3,792,939.44 opioid settlement dollars back into Arkansas cities and counties. Funding has supported:

• 30 new recovery beds in Johnson County

• 4,232 naloxone kits dispersed across Faulkner, Pulaski, Craighead, Independence, Pope, Saline, Izard, and Jefferson Counties

• 1 recovery community organization in Craighead County

• 2 Overdose Response Teams in Garland and Craighead Counties

• 1 statewide effort to support families who have experienced an overdose