MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Mecklenburg County will receive $72.7 million through 2038 to address the opioid crisis in the area. The money, which comes from multiple major settlements with pharmaceutical companies and drug stores, will come in gradually, meaning the planning is a process of its own.
The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners recently approved the next phase of spending, allocating $5.5 million for multiple recovery programs with a focus on incarcerated individuals.
"It's not going to be an 18-year commitment, it's going to be a year-by-year evaluation to see where they go," Marcus Boyd said at the Dec. 3 meeting. "We do have the ability to retract dollars if certain vendors and certain strategies aren't producing the outcomes we need."
WCNC Charlotte sat down with Boyd, who is the program manager for the County's Opioid Settlement Fund Initiative, about how his team is going about these decisions.
"This really is an opportunity to do once-in-a-lifetime work, and we want to do it correctly," Boyd said.
While Boyd leads the program, he works with a team from public health and criminal justice services. Every quarter, the meet to re-evaluate the needs of the community and the data.
Many of the numbers are publicly available on the county's dashboard. However, with something this long-term, results take time. That's why they're trying to make their plan as equitable and wide-reaching as possible.
“There’s no wrong door approach. You go into the hospital you have access. You go into the detention center you have access. If you’re in the general community, you have access," Boyd said of the wave 2 plan.
Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.