Shasta County Will Receive Almost $40 Million in Opioid Settlement Funds. Supervisor Crye Says an Ad Hoc Committee Should Consider Fund Use.
Butte County is using $3 million in opioid settlement funds to build a sobering center. Shasta County will receive $38.5 million distributed over fifteen years. The $10.5 million already in County hands is enough to effect real change.
9.13.24 8:00 pm: We have updated this story to correct our reporting about who Supervisor Crye suggested should join the ad hoc committee with him.
Last Tuesday, September 10, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors approved a proclamation designating September as “recovery month.” At the County’s invitation, select community members shared personal stories of their own sobriety journeys, underscoring the devastation that substance use disorder has had locally.
“The only reason I share my experience is to bring hope to a community riddled with addiction,” one member of the public told the Board.
Beyond such symbolic gestures, the Board also discussed actionable measures that could be put in place to assist individuals and families, using opioid settlement funds.
In 2018, Shasta County joined numerous other complainants in a successful groundbreaking lawsuit against multiple manufacturers of pharmaceutical opioids. The County has been awarded a total of $38.9 million, to be paid in annual installments, the staff report says, until fiscal year 2038/39.
The County has already received just under $10.5 million in settlement funds. Another $28.5 million is expected over the next 14 years. In June, the County approved a small portion of those funds, $100,000 per year over three years, to be used for the Shasta Substance Abuse Coalition.
A comprehensive staff report on the settlement provided for supervisors in their Board packet included a wide range of approved uses for the funds. Allowable uses under the settlement agreement are broadly organized into sections including “treatment,” “prevention,” and “other strategies.” These “other strategies” include educating first responders, increasing infrastructure of drug treatment nonprofits, and sponsoring research initiatives to identify root causes of opioid addiction and support research into non-opioid treatments for chronic pain.
During Tuesday’s meeting, a representative from Shasta’s County Administrative Office gave a presentation outlining some specific recommendations for how Shasta County’s funds could be used. At least some of the recommendations were drawn from a working group that was gathered by the County some time ago.
These recommendations included big ideas like emergency shelter, transitional housing and expanded sober living facilities, as well as smaller ideas like deploying easily accessible Narcan (naloxone) canisters in strategically placed vending machines across the County, a dedicated drug counselor for veterans, and rolling out prevention work in middle through high schools.
Across the state, other cities and counties have already begun spending their portions of the settlement in both big and small ways. For example, Union City has used settlement funds to buy 500 naloxone kits, while Ukiah has installed new heating and air conditioning systems in a local drug treatment center. In Butte County, about $3 million in settlement funds are being used to open a sobering center that will divert individuals from incarceration and offer them a clean, safe space to recover from the substance use when needed.
After hearing the staff report and public comment, Board Chair Kevin Crye, who brought the issue forward, proposed forming an ad hoc committee to consider best fund uses.
Crye, who opposed the Redding Council’s decision last week to form an ad hoc committee on the Rodeo lease, acknowleged to the rest of the Board that “things go to Committee to die.” But, Crye said, if those chosen to be on the ad hoc committee will be voting Board members next year, “things won’t go sideways.”
He suggested Supervisor Chris Kelstrom, who will be on the Board next year, join him on the ad hoc committee.
Supervisor Mary Rickert asked to join the ad hoc Committee instead of Kelstrom, citing her long-time interest in drug rehabilitation and mental health services. But Crye pushed back, saying Rickert is up for re-election and may not have a seat on the board next year. Crye also said if Supervisor-elect Matt Plummer, who will take Jones’ seat in January, would be able to join the Committee, he’d be okay with Rickert joining the Committee instead of himself, saying he wants to ensure continuity.
County Counsel Joseph Larmour said he’d look into the specifics of whether Plummer could legally participate in the committee prior to being seated as a supervisor. The Board will reconsider the matter after legal counsel responds, within the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, fentanyl-related deaths continue to ravage the county. According to the Shasta Substance Abuse Coalition, fentanyl overdoses increased in the County by 625% from 2018–2023.
Annelise Pierce contributed to this story.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
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Shasta County will find a way to misappropriation these funds as well. Sickening really. Nothing will actually go toward helping the community but will instead feed more pockets while more workers are over worked, treated with bias and then when the audit comes, here goes the ground workers and not the “Staff” that is supposed to make things happen. Shasta County is a joke and a brown nose facility where no one advances or is heard unless they are friends with upper management.
I hope they use this money the way there supposed to they all need to be educated in addictions or this money will be wasted on a new jail and more cops we don’t need prison is not where drug addicts recover communities is where it happens it’s a diesese not a choice
Hard to have faith that they will do something reasonable with this grant.
Someone should consider providing at least 5 different cities that have run successful operations! Too many times, there’s a lot of money and nothing more than a reactionary response with lots of painting and heavy, breathing with empathy! Unfortunately, it just waste money. If anybody has run a successful business, those people should be considered. Spending all kinds of money because it feels good is horseshit.
Norway is the absolute best example of what works! People should look into the fact that they have almost zero homelessness in their country and see how it’s done right!
Do all liberals get some kind of weekly memo and training to enable all the buzz words to make them sound like experts and heroes??
No we just actually care about other people. Hope this helps.
To the Stadille and Martin nay-sayers…you’re lucky you haven’t fallen prey to the addiction that’s so prevalent in those that have become unemployed, divorced or just don’t have the mental capacity to fend for themselves. I suggest you spend a day at the In-Patient or Out-Patient on Breslauer, or any of the treatment facilities in our area. You might even see someone you know, a relative perhaps. Waiting for your snarky, cold hearted comment.
I worked with a company called Securitas as a security guard and one of my posts was the Shasta County needle exchange on Breslauer Way at the Health Dept. I would watch the homeless come out of the bushes as there was a large homeless camp there where some come with an attitude and housed folks as well to exchange needles. They would leave with a little white bag of condoms, narcan, chap stick, and their needles in a little white bag. A person from mental health was there… Doing absolutely nothing.
My last hour and a half I then was posted at the welfare office just across the canal. I would see many of them with the little white bag they gave them drooling trying to get benefits. I would find blood in the bathroom of the county facility where they put those new needles to use.
Shasta County is promoting drug use…and the neighborhood thefts that occurred there… What kind of message was this sending?
AMEN brother we need to stop treating these people like victims and start treating them like the criminals they are. Again with any of this it begins with a choice a choice to take that first hit of pot, or the pill, or crack, meth and ultimately the needle. 99%of them made a poor choice and continue making the same poor choices. So VICTIMS they are NOT!!!!!
It starts out the first time being a choice and then no longer a choice!
Ignorance once again! It’s like a disease here also, along with addiction? Well it ever get any better people? You are one person and that is your opinion although I believe it’s not 100% accurate? Of course they are using their new, clean needles, and so what if they are applying for benefits? What’s your point? That addict’s need help? Duh!
So many opportunities to really help with this funding. At the top of my list would be supportive housing with on site recovery programs, counseling, education and workforce training and placement. $40 million could make a huge difference for our community!
Well let’s see how long it takes for funds to go missing!!
I would watch for a forced lock up prison type facility like Julie Winter from Bethel tried to push some years ago.
I have very real concerns about Crye and Jones making up an “ad hoc” committee and deciding where the funds will go. There are so many organizations in our area doing this work already. Ones with experience, knowledge and compassion -somehow I don’t see the same coming from them.
I find it extremely sad and offensive that Crye and Jones (who don’t really seem interested in helping people afflicted with addiction) would prevent Mary Rickert to be a participant on the “ad hoc committee,” when she by far has more experience then the both of those two put together.
I fear for the people who suffer from the horrible disease of addiction.
It’s not a disease it’s first and foremost a choice.
Hello Bret. It’s clear that you and a couple other commenters are uneducated on addiction and somehow also missed that this funding is specifically an opioid settlement. Purdue Pharma managed to have oxycontin labeled as non-addictive, told physicians the same, and browbeat doctors to overprescribe. Purdue spent hundreds of millions of dollars to aggressively campaign to promote the use of opioids in general. They gave out 34,000 coupons to patients for a patient starter coupon program that gave patients a free limited-time prescription for a 7 to 30 day supply of meds. Many people became addicted by simply following their doctor prescribed treatment plan. These are regular people that were either injured or ill and were prescribed a pain med that they were told was not addictive. Is this the “choice” you are so coldly referring to? Not only did many become quickly addicted, but many died. Almost 180,000 people died in the US between 2000 and 2015 from a prescription opioid-involved overdose. Hence the opioid settlement. Besides educating yourself there’s this other thing you should try out called empathy.
Read the book Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. You would see disturbing similarities between Northern California and the Appalachians.
Mr. Martin, You are way off the mark that it’s a choice. I’ve worked in the mental health and substance abuse world for sometime and one is either organically led down a path, or as little as a one-time access to whatever the substance is and then the process begins. Funds need to be increased to expand a psychiatric hospital so that updated treatment can be provided; along with a research component. This would not only provide the north state with first class treatment, but ongoing research into the disease that it is. We have a patient facility in place on Breslauer Lane, make it work with this money.
Mr Brett Martin – If it’s such a choice than how come the pharmaceutical company is settling for millions of dollars?
It’s not the company’s fault, right? Those addicts have a choice!
You are so wrong! Your comment is exactly what’s wrong with this country! Ignorance doesn’t make you right! It’s a disease and you so obviously know nothing absolutely nothing about it! So go ahead and be you! I’m sure you also don’t believe in Global Warming either? Among several other things I could mention that I’m positive I’m correct about when it comes to ignorant people speaking on so many topics they know nothing about! Boring
Rachel, on the off chance that your comment was directed at me, please know that I was being sarcastic towards Brett.
The comment structure on here makes it difficult to sometimes know who is commenting to who.
You are so very ignorant on this topic and I’m afraid you don’t know anything about addiction and are just spouting an uneducated and pathetic rant. Just as you don’t believe addiction is real, you probably don’t believe in Global Warming either right? Please leave this subject to the professionals. They actually know what they are talking about on this very important subject! Thank you, and when I say professionals I’m not talking about Crye!
I agree with JustMe. The idiocy and full-on assault by the J.C.K. Cartle’s main nimusis Marry – because she is a nonpartisan reality-based Republican, not MAGA- was disturbenly stunning, even for him. Mary has been active in the recovery movement for many years, long before Crye even knew what our Shasta County Board of Supervisors was.
While the Cartel uses anything they can, including Recovery, as a political tool to attack people who won’t bend to their authoritarian rule. Mary states that Reovery should be nonpolitical – nonpartisan and persistently displays a deep knowledge that inorder for Recovery to be successful, Recovery has to be conducted at three levels:
Micro, units like families or relationships.
Mezzo, medium-sized systems like a community.
Macro, the larger systems and policies involved in Recovery.
Solution:
Take political games out of Recovery.
Put people who know what they are doing, as well as people who are still in the Recovery process, in charge.
Use evidenced-based treatment programs, as presented by Shasta’s County Administrative Office.
Our community as a whole needs Recovery. Safe and Sain, nonpartisan leadership will be the only way to get us on a path to do so.
Can I also just mention the importance of housing for addict’s in order for their success? It’s the most fundamental thing that is necessary for their journey to recovery. It’s not something for after they are clean, it’s needed from the very beginning. They must feel safe and protected in order to be successful. It’s not something that I hear people talking about very often but it is so crucial in recovery and the results have been proven to be so much higher in percentages, when it’s made available to the addict. I’m just saying!?