HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Over $200,000 has been allocated to three different organizations in Christian County from the fiscal court’s Opioid Settlement Fund. These funds are distributed and managed by government bodies across the commonwealth with the intention of combatting the opioid epidemic.
There is strict use associated with the funds, which must be allocated to programs and criteria that fit the guidelines as determined by their Opioid Settlement Fund Committee with an ongoing oversight process to ensure compliance.
At the Sept 8 Christian County Fiscal Court meeting, $96,000 in Opioid Settlement Funds was first awarded to Grace & Mercy, who provides transitional housing and resources for previously incarcerated women, and women seeking recovery. The funding will provide a full-time clinical social worker that will work with graduated participants to avoid relapses.
Grace & Mercy Director Joanna Mack said the new social worker will help to improve success beyond their program and also possibly facilitate after care for children of their alumni.
“We know that if the mother and the father are addicts then the propensity of them being an addict is very high, extremely high,” Mack told the magistrates. “So, we want to educate the young people, we want to educate the babies, we want to do everything we can from the ground up to actually let them see and know what opioids can do.”
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Redeemed & Restored, a residential, faith-based program in Hopkinsville, was allocated $131,000 in match funds to help cover construction costs for a new clinic. This is only partial funding the project. A representative with the nonprofit explained that they are looking to expand their levels of care to outpatient therapy.
CASA by the Lakes was allocated $12,800 in settlement funds. Gilliam said this money will be used to recruit, train and support court appointed special advocates and volunteers to serve children in Christian County who have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care as a result of parental opioid use and other substances and disorders.
“There are a lot of similarities in these projects,” added Gilliam, stating that he hopes these nonprofits can work together and continue to pool resources to best benefit the community. He also encouraged these programs to also work with the City of Hopkinsville, which has several hundred thousand dollars in unallocated opioid funds.
Settlement funds came as a result of several ongoing and pending lawsuits across Kentucky. $980 million will be distributed over several years to local government bodies, guided by the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission. Of this nearly billion dollars, 50% of it will be absorbed into the KOAAC at the state level, and the other 50% will be allocated to local governments.
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