As each of the 351 towns in Massachusetts try to figure out how to spend their share of the state’s $946 million in opioid settlement funds, Harvard’s Board of Health is proposing that it take a leadership role in this town’s spending recommendations. At the June 4 Select Board meeting, Board of Health Chair Sharon McCarthy proposed the creation of a working group to advise the board on the use of the $620,576 the town will receive as its share of the opioid settlements.
McCarthy spoke during public comment at the meeting, first to ask the Select Board to put off its vote—scheduled for later that evening—on the Harvard Police Department’s three spending requests. The requests included $40,000 for a portable narcotics detection system, a $9,000 device to provide safe handling of fentanyl for officers, and $24,000 to produce a community outreach video. She suggested that the board wait on any major purchases until the Board of Health and other town officials can become better informed on the best way to spend the town’s settlement funds.The board took her advice and delayed the vote.
McCarthy also proposed creating a working group that would include representatives from the Board of Health, the schools, public safety, and interested citizens. The group would be led by the Board of Health, and it would use guidance from the office of the state attorney general on the best use of the settlement funds. That guidance, McCarthy told the Select Board, includes four areas that municipalities should use their funds for: opioid use disorder treatment, supporting people in treatment and recovery, connections to care, and harm reduction.
McCarthy also said that a Board of Health member plans to attend webinars offered by Care Massachusetts, a nonprofit organization funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services. Its mission is to help towns use their opioid settlement funds. The first webinar, on the use of abatement funds in small communities, was scheduled for June 6.
In addition, on May 5, the Select Board voted to spend $9,300 of the town’s settlement funds for listening sessions, to be conducted by the Boston-based firm Public Consulting Group. The end result of those sessions will be a report documenting the observed needs of the community, and McCarthy told the board it should be used to guide the town in any further opioid abatement spending decisions.
A more coordinated approach
A working group is necessary, McCarthy told the Select Board, to provide a “more coordinated approach” to spending settlement funds. She said Select Board members don’t have time to evaluate every spending request, and the board could use the working group as “technical advisors.” She has already been recruiting members for the group and said she has commitments from a medical doctor as well as from representatives from the Ambulance Service and the schools. She said she is waiting for confirmation of a representative from the Harvard police.
Only three members of the Select Board were at its June 4 meeting, and Chair Don Ludwig said he would not be averse to holding off the vote on the Police Department’s requests until all members were present for the discussion. He also said McCarthy’s idea for a working group was good, and it would be on the agenda for a future meeting.
Select Board member Charles Oliver said he’d like to see “the lion’s share” of the town’s opioid settlement money spent on prevention, rather than “whiz-bang gizmos” that don’t have the “spirit of the settlement.” He said he would be in favor of waiting on the vote until a working group could be formed. Member Kara Minar agreed, saying, “I’d prefer to have a few more eyes look at it.”
The board agreed it would discuss opioid settlement spending again at its next meeting, scheduled for June 18.
