Barry County's Opioid Settlement
Turning Settlement Funds into Community Solutions for a Healthier Tomorrow
Opioid Settlement Funds Request for Proposals
Barry County is currently seeking applications to address the effects of the Opioid Crisis within the community. RFPs due by March 31, 2025 at no later than 4:00pm (EST).
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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: If you require technical assistance with the RFPs, please contact Liz Lenz, SATF Coordinator, via phone at 269-948-8041, ext. 209, or via email at llenz@bccmha.org.
Barry County Opioid Settlement Funds RFP Timeline
*Dates are subject to change
Jan. 21-Jan. 28, 2025
Presentation of the Opioid Settlement Funds (OSF) to the Barry County Board of Commissioners for review and approval.
Mid-Feb.-March 31, 2025
Release and promotion of the Barry County OSF RFP to the community; RFPs due on 3/31/2025. Technical assistance available.
April-Early May 2025
RFP Review and Selection Process; options presented to the Barry County Board of Commissioners for final approval and review.
May 15, 2025
RFP Awards announced and presented in May. Recipients will be notified via phone and also announced here on this website page.
MI Opioid Settlement
In 2014, lawsuits were issued against pharmacies and pharmaceutical drug companies for their role in fueling the opioid crisis. Local and state governments incurred significant costs due to the crisis. In 2018, more Michiganders died from drug overdoses than car accidents. As a result of settlements reached with pharmacies and pharmaceutical drug companies, Michigan and local governments will receive payments from these entities.
The state of Michigan is slated to receive nearly $1.6 billion from the opioid settlements over a total of 18 years, beginning in 2023. Fifty percent (50%) of most settlements will be distributed directly to county, city, and township governments. These totals are estimated based on the following settlements: Distributors, J&J, Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, Allergan, Teva, McKinsey & Co., Mallinckrodt, Meijer, and Publicis Health
Barry County Settlement
Barry County is estimated to receive $1.499M over the next 17 years to be used to address the misuse of opioid products, treat or mitigate opioid use and related disorders, and mitigate effects of those injured as a result of the opioid epidemic. With the opioid settlement dollars, Barry County will have an unprecedented opportunity to invest in solutions to address the needs of our community. In November of 2022, Be The Change was appointed by the Barry County Board of Commissioners to serve as stewards of these settlement funds.
Be The Change will work collaboratively with all community partners and stakeholders to ensure the needed and meaningful use and allocation of Barry County's opioid settlement funds through five guiding principles of spending money to save lives, using data and evidence to guide spending, investing in youth prevention, focusing on inequality, and developing a transparent, inclusive decision-making process.
Taking Action
At Be The Change, we have engaged the assistance of the Technical Advisor for Opioid Settlement Funds Planning and Capacity Building with the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC), to facilitate our guiding principles and to help us further develop our action plans and committee efforts.
We will work in partnership with other local community partners to develop a long-term, countywide strategy to address substance use in the county, which will also be used to guide recommendations for the use of the Barry County Opioid Settlement Funds. The plan will demonstrate actionable steps that can be taken across sectors and fields to identify local needs and address community priorities with full transparency. We will ensure a long-term investment in evidence-based programs and plans to address this public health epidemic over time.
5 Guiding Principles
• Principle 1: Spend The Money to Save Lives
• Principle 2: Evidence Based Spending
• Principle 3: Invest in Youth
• Principle 4: Focus on Inequality
• Principle 5: Transparency
State Settlement Resources
• Opioid Settlements (michigan.gov)
• Opioids-Settlement-Spend-Plan-Overview.pdf (michigan.gov)
• 2023_Opioids_Settlement_Planning_Template.pdf (michigan.gov)
• Opioid Advisory Commission
• Opioid Settlement Resource Center - The Michigan Association of Counties (micounties.org)
• Exhibit-E-Final-Distributor-Settlement-Agreement-8-11-21.pdf (attorneygeneral.gov)
National Resources
Questions?
Community members are encouraged to reach out with questions, concerns, or feedback regarding the Barry County Opioid Settlement Funds.
Liz Lenz, SATF Coordinator
Phone: 269-948-8041
Email: llenz@bccmha.org
A Snapshot of Barry County Substance Use Data
Michigan created a county ranking system to identify areas that are more negatively impacted by substance misuse. Barry County ranked 72nd out of 83 counties (with 1 being the most impacted and 83 being the least impacted). Each county in Michigan is given a score based on 3 categories:
76 Burden Rank
Barry County experiences less nonfatal overdoses, fatal overdoses, less opioid prescriptions, and less drug related arrests than 75 other Michigan counties.
13 Resource Rank
Barry County has less resources available to help individuals struggling with substance use than 70 other Michigan counties.
77 Social Vulnerability Rank
Residents of Barry County experience less social vulnerability than in 76 other counties in Michigan.
Our 5 Guiding Principles
To ensure that opioid settlement dollars are used most effectively in Barry County, the following 5 principles will be adopted.
Spend the Money to Save Lives
We will ensure the funds from the opioid lawsuits will only be used to help people by establishing a dedicated fund/endowment fund.
Evidence Based Spending
Funds will be sent to programs supported by evidence. We will also work to reduce or remove policies that may block adoption of effective programs.
Invest in Youth
We will direct funds to evidence-based interventions addressed to youth and substance misuse prevention.
Focus on Inequality
We will direct funds to areas showing inequality and now may be experiencing substantial increases in overdoses.
Transparency
Develop a fair and transparent process for deciding where to spend the funding.