Texas Opioid Settlement Funds

The Texas Opioid Settlement Funds refers to a large-scale legal agreement between Texas, local governments, and pharmaceutical companies involved in the production, distribution, or sale of opioids. These companies have been sued for their role in the opioid crisis, which has resulted in widespread addiction and overdose deaths. 

Three local entities will share in more than $660,000 to provide services battling the ongoing opioid crisis in Fort Worth.

Why it’s important: In 2022, overdoses in Fort Worth reached a three-year high, with MedStar Mobile Health treating an average of three patients a day in August of that year.

Some background: In March of 2023, Fort Worth received the first of several anticipated settlement payments that could total more than $4 million from the Opioid Abatement Fund Council. The payment came after the City Council agreed to join a $50 billion settlement in lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of opioid painkillers. The Texas Attorney General negotiated receiving $1.5 billion of that settlement, which is now being distributed to communities across Texas to be used for addiction treatment and prevention.

The City Council put the initial $665,760 payment in a fund to be overseen by the Neighborhood Services Department on programs to address abatement efforts needed in Fort Worth. The first round of grant funding was made early this year.

Grant recipients:

• SaferCare Texas, the patient safety department of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, and the university’s School of Public Health were awarded $310,339 to provide opioid intervention education. The project focuses on community-based intervention, tasking SaferCare Texas with developing training education alongside HSC’s new College of Nursing and Fort Worth community-based organizations. The education will focus on train-the-trainer sessions using community-based organizations, HSC students and community health workers to provide outreach in the community, schools and home-based care settings. More details here. 
  
  
• My Health My Resources of Tarrant County received $197,100 to provide office-based opioid treatment to alleviate adverse physiological effects of withdrawal from opioids. Patients will also receive group and individualized counseling and peer-supportive services. More details here.
  
  
• Fort Worth Fire Department will receive $157,505.64 for its HOPE Team, which serves people experiencing homelessness. FWFD will implement a comprehensive outreach and support service tailored to the homeless population and frequent users of emergency services. The program will involve proactive engagement with individuals affected by opioid addiction, providing them with access to resources such as addiction counseling, harm reduction strategies and connections to rehabilitation services. More details here.