Centre County Expected to Receive Payment Increase in Second Round of Opioid Settlement Funding

Centre County expects to see an increase in annual payments when Pennsylvania begins distributing the next round of opioid settlement funding later this year.

The county Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to participate in the second wave of funding from the national settlement of prescription opioid litigation.

Pennsylvania will receive will over $1 billion from the settlements reached in 2021 and 2022 with pharmaceutical companies and retail pharmacy chains, with the majority being distributed to counties based on a formula that considers level of need and not necessarily population.

In the first round of payments between 2022 and 2024, Centre County received $1.16 per resident, the lowest in the state, according to Spotlight PA . Payments have fluctuated, but the county received $116,187 for 2024.

In the second wave, which is expected to begin late this year and continue through 2038, Centre County is estimated to receive up to $200,000 per year, County Drug and Alcohol Administrator Cathy Arbogast said.

"That greatly increases the amount of funding we should expect each year in the second wave," Arbogast said. "The challenge that we face is that it’s the same amount each payment and each payment has to be spent within 18 months. It’s not like it’s additional money on top of what we’ve received each year. So if we start a project, we have to sustain that project. It’s great money but we have to be very thoughtful and planful as we start projects that we can keep those projects going or find existing funds to sustain those projects to take on new projects."

Settlement funds are overseen and disbursed by the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust , which also decides whether counties have spent the money appropriately .

Counties can use the money for "approved activities to benefit individuals affected by the opiate crisis," Arbogast said. Approved uses include a large number of treatment and prevention programs. Centre County has, to date, used the funding for both treatment and prevention initiatives.

"These opioid settlement funds are really important for some of the services that we’re able to provide because of them, including medication assisted treatment, and at this point potentially transportation as well for people who are participating in our specialty courts. There’s constrictions on how we apply these funds, but they’re used in important ways to support people who are dealing with the consequences of opioid addiction."

Arbogast added that the county has been pairing the funds with other available money to provide programs that are as effective as possible.

"What we’re also doing is we’re using these dollars to leverage other dollars, so that when we start a project to support individuals with opiate use disorders we can match them with other dollars to support individuals with other diagnoses, or for example, individuals with mental health diagnoses, " Arbogast said. "So that way everyone can receive the support and services that they need.

"... Transportation is a big issue right now, so we’re matching dollars across our service delivery system so that we can serve as many individuals as possible who are being challenges with changes in transportation availability."

Though the spotlight on the crisis has dimmed in recent years, opioid and opiate addiction remains an issue in Centre County.

"We continue to see challenges with opiates and addiction," Arbogast said. "The actual types of drugs continue to change. We have started to see more of drugs such as xylazine [also known as tranq] and synthetic opiates, probably more so than heroin itself. But we continue to monitor the various drugs that come through, what individuals are reporting so that we can stay on top of how that has changed over time."

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