New Reports from Drug Policy Alliance and New York State Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board

At the New York State Harm Reduction Association (NYSHRA) we are highly encouraging service providers, advocates, community members, and people with lived experience to review two recent reports: one from Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), and the other an annual report from the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board (OSFAB). DPA released, “New York’s Opioid Settlement Funds: Lessons Learned and Recommendations After the First 3 Years” last week. The illuminating report breaks down different opioid settlement funds, summarizes recent overdose data, details (with charts) where the funds have gone, highlights discrepancies, and discusses how the direction of funding has or has not aligned with the recommendations from Board members and public comment. Appropriately, the report ends with recommendations. 

DPA highlights various key findings, including that in the previous fiscal year, “80.7% of state-awarded funds went to large-scale institutions” and only “19.3% of funds went to small-scale institutions” (page 24). A question of how local government (county) settlement funds are distributed is highlighted as well. 

The Public Science Project at CUNY Graduate Center assisted in analyzing themes from all written and oral public comment to OSFAB. One excerpt in their quantitative analysis reads “Harm reduction means you work tirelessly to be sure that a person feels loved and cared about…. It means putting yourself and your desires… aside to listen to someone and help them achieve what they want in their life, regardless of your own wishes” (page 30). 

Read the DPA’s report here. 

The annual report from NYS OSFAB is also publicly available. Written and edited by the Chair and Board members and using the information that they have available, the document describes where funds have gone across the state, describes state-supported initiatives, identifies challenges, and also makes recommendations. 

Together with the aforementioned DPA report, these two documents paint a portrait of the state’s substance use services landscape and voices from our community fighting to be heard. 

You can read the annual report at this link and click the image below to hear Board Chair Debra Pantin describing their work on Capital Pressroom. 

NYSHRA wishes to thank the members of OSFAB and Board Chair Debra Pantin for their commitment. Their report this year again includes a recommendation for Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs), and encourages planning as well as transparency from the state and local government units.