Brown County Commissioners were the second governing body to unanimously approve an $83,000 ask that will serve to combat opioid use and address mental health needs and wellbeing in the county.
“I feel like it’s a no-lose situation, we only stand to gain more money that can be used for this worthy cause,” Commissioner President Jerry Pittman said at the commissioners meeting on March 1.
The Brown County Council also approved the ask at its Feb. 20 meeting, where local organization Centerstone approached the council with the request.
Centerstone’s request was for the money to be used for a financial commitment from the state settlement funds to Brown County for a matching state grant from Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction.
The grant, the Opioid Settlement Match Grant, is a one-time funding opportunity to local units of government to support evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, behavioral health workforce, enforcement, jail treatment, recovery residences, and other services and initiatives across the state.
Respondents to the grants must match funds from any local source, including distributions from the National Opioid Settlement.
Total awards for the grant available is $25 million.
On Dec. 12 it was announced that Attorney General Todd Rokita finalized tentative agreements with CVS and Walgreens that brought $219 million to Indiana to settle allegations against the two pharmacies that they contributed to the opioid crisis through their conduct in the distribution and dispensing of prescription drugs.
In total so far, the state is set to receive $254,151,236.19 from the settlement with CVS and Walgreen’s.
The tentative agreements with Indiana are part of a tentative national multistate settlement with the two companies.
In November, Attorney General Rokita announced that Indiana expects to receive $59.4 million as part of a tentative multistate settlement with Walmart to resolve allegations that it, too, contributed to the opioid addiction crisis by failing to appropriately oversee the distribution and dispensing of opioids at its stores.
Settlement funds are intended to be used to remediate the opioid crisis by supporting such priorities as prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services.
The payments are structured to ensure critical support in early years as well as sustained resources over time. Most of Walmart’s amount will be paid during the first year; CVS’s payments will be spread over 10 years; Walgreens’ payments will be spread over 15 years. If there is sufficient sign-on, payments will begin during the second half of 2023.
Of that amount, Brown County will receive a total of $334,314.54 in abatement dollars and $143,277.67 in unrestricted shares. The Town of Nashville will receive $21,871.79 in abatement shares and $9,373.59 in unrestricted shares.
All values and estimates are spread in decreasing amounts until 2038 and are subject to change.
The county has $70,625.35 in abatement dollars to use from 2022 and $12,637.06 to use in 2023.
In unrestricted funds, that amount is $30,268.01 for 2022 and $5,415.89 in 2023.
The abatement shares must be committed to efforts that serve the community directly related to the opioid crisis.
Centerstone Child and Family Services Manager Mandy Kinnaird said on Feb. 20 that it’s a lot of extra money to pour into local efforts.
Centerstone’s plan for the grant includes extending the jail services coordinator position in Brown County Jail and other grant funded positions in the county through the end of 2024 through June 2025.
They are also proposing training and recovery supports in the grant request.
They did not disclose the amount they are asking from the DMHA grant, which were to be submitted by Feb. 28.
Council President Gary Huett said that even if the grant did not go through, the council would still likely pledge its abatement funds to similar efforts.
Council member Scott Rudd said he liked the idea of unrestricted funds in the hands of Sheriff Brad Stogsdill, who could determine needs that may not be as easily funded.
The council unanimously approved the commitment of the 2022 and 2023 abatement shares up to $83,262.41 to the Opioid Settlement Match Grant.
More about Community Catalyst, PACEs
In early 2022 Brown County Commissioners and Brown County Council expressed their support for a jail services coordinator and ACEs initiative. In February last year, the commissioners also pledged $20,000 from the county’s own American Rescue Plan Act funding as a match for the Community Catalyst grant.
In July it was announced that Centerstone received the $500,000 Community Catalyst grant from DMHA. The grant is a one-time funding opportunity to address mental health needs throughout the state. Money was used to create new positions and start a Brown County ACEs Initiative, now known as PACEs — Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences.
The 10-question Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, quiz is designed to be given to children before their 18th birthday.
Questions center on such topics as whether the child was abused physically, emotionally or sexually; if their parents divorced; if a household member had gone to prison; if the child felt like a parent was ever too drunk or high to take care of them; and if they felt like they were not taken care of or loved.
Each ‘Yes’ answer is one point. The higher the ACE score, the more likely a child is to experience challenges such as chronic disease and risky behavior, like drug use, in the future, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The ultimate goal of the initiative is to reduce adverse child experiences and their impacts in the community along with increasing the understanding of ACEs and the long-term effects those experiences have on children.
The Community Catalyst grant also received matching funding from Centerstone, Brown Countians for Quality Health Care, the Brown County Community Foundation and the sheriff’s department.
In March of last year the Brown County Recovery and Wellness Coalition was awarded a separate $84,000 Community Coordination grant. That grant is also administered through the FSSA Division of Mental Health and the state’s Addiction and Forensic Treatment Team. That grant money was used to fund the jail services coordinator position, filled by Melissa Tatman, in the Brown County Sheriff’s Department. The Community Catalyst grant funded Tatman’s position for an additional six months.
Tatman’s is not the only role that receives support from the Community Catalyst Grant.
Melissa Rittenhouse serves in a role part-time alongside Casey Stover, working directly with referred children and families, positions also covered by this grant funding. Rittenhouse said last year their role is to help bridge gaps in the community with organizations and do follow-up on Sandy Washburn’s ACEs training to make sure people are connected with resources.
Washburn is the ACEs community coordinator, funded with the grant. Her role is tasked with educating the community on ACEs through training and workshops. She is also a research scholar at Indiana University, currently working as a grant-funded social-emotional learning coach for Brown County Schools.
Tatman is responsible for connecting inmates with services in the community as well as help connect their families to resources. Tatman is no stranger to helping connect people to resources. She previously worked with Do Something Inc., which created the Launch House as a space in the community where anyone could go to find help overcoming addiction, for themselves or a loved one.
Learn more
Want to learn more about the Community Catalyst grant, the ACEs initiative or would you like to be connected to a supportive service? Call the Brown County Centerstone office 812-988-2258 or email Mandy Kinnaird at [email protected].
