New York Attorney General Letitia James has reached settlements totaling over $1.6 billion with companies involved in manufacturing, distributing, and selling opioids. These funds will be directed toward New York communities for treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts.
The Cortland County Legislature unanimously approved receiving $313,890 in funds from settlements negotiated by the state Attorney General’s office this month. At least $96,296 will go toward funding the new detox center in the village of Lansing in Tompkins County. The new center, which had its ribbon cutting yesterday (as pictured below), will be operated by our partner here at South Central BH Network IPA, The Alcohol and Drug Council of Tompkins County (ADCTC). The council will provide 24/7 open access to detox and stabilization services for residents of nearby counties, including Cortland. ADCTC plans to open the center at some point this month.
For Central and Southern Tier regions, the lead entity for the SCBHN IPA – Family and Children’s Counseling Services, Inc. and our IPA partner, Cayuga Area Recovery Services, both received $96,296.67 each.
In addition, fifty-five Local Governmental Units and five cities were notified of the dollars available to each county out of a total of $64 million. The amount available to each county is calculated based on a formula using population, overdose death rates, and mental health and equity indicators.
These priority areas include: harm reduction, treatment, investments across the service continuum, priority populations, housing, recovery, prevention, transportation, public awareness and research. Notably, three themes were identified as guiding principles for developing and prioritizing the Board’s recommendations. These include service integration to best treat co-occurring disorders, service equity, and meaningful evaluation that demonstrates reduced suffering and positive impacts on the social determinants of health.
The Southern Tier region will receive about $4.8 million from the settlement in 2022. The initial payout on Tuesday totaled about $759,000 between Broome, Tioga, Schuyler, Steuben, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, and Tompkins counties. While in the Central NY Region, the initial payout totaled a little over $6 million for Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties.
Pictured here is Angela Sullivan, outgoing Executive Director of The Council, incoming Interim Executive Director Stacy Cangelosi, Dr. Mead and the Board of Directors and staff of ADCTC. Photo: Courtesy of Julie Dostal of LEAF, Inc.