On Tuesday, March 19, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners approved $8,815,000 in contracts to 41 community agencies to provide opioids prevention, response, treatment, and recovery services with priority given to those serving the most impacted communities. These two-year contracts are funded through Hennepin County’s portion of the national opioid settlement.
This is the second round of opioid response contracts to community-based service providers in Hennepin County. The 41 funded community agencies reflect a broad base of services and a diverse group of agencies. They were selected from among the 52 who applied. A key criterion in the selection of these agencies was their connection to and ability to serve communities disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis.
“Recognizing that racism is a public health crisis and health equity is a priority of Hennepin County, disparity reduction guides our framework and funding, focusing on services provided with compassion and care and through the lens of public health,” said Lolita Ulloa, Director of Systems Design at Hennepin County, when speaking to the board requesting approval for these grant awards.
The full list of contracted agencies, including details of their awards are available on the county board website. On Thursday March 28, the Hennepin County Opioid Leadership team and the 41 grantees, met at the Ridgedale Library to kick off their work together and celebrate the rollout of this historic community investment to combat the opioid crisis in Hennepin County.
“While $8.8 million is a significant investment to address the opioid crisis facing all our communities, it’s just the start,” said Julie Bauch, Hennepin County Opioid Response Coordinator. “This will be incremental work, but I am confident that the efforts undertaken by our new partners will save lives.”
National opioid settlement funds are also supporting opioid response work within several county departments, including NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, the Hennepin County Public Health Clinic, and jail medical services at the Adult Detention Center.
Hennepin County has a three-pillared opioid response that includes prevention, response, and treatment/recovery. Opioid response work has been a priority of Hennepin County since 2018.
