Cobb County's $6M boost for opioid abatement
COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Cobb County has millions of dollars that will soon be used to combat the opioid crisis. The money is from settlements reached with manufacturers and distributors of opioids.
For months, a council looked at the best way to use the money. Now they have a plan to get that money out into the community, where it can best be used.
It took months for a special committee to determine the best use of this money. Now they have a plan to get that money out into the community to organizations and nonprofits, like The Zone, which helps those fighting addiction.
"The money can be spent to do all kinds of wonderful things to keep our services rolling," said Missy Owen, founder of the Davis Direction Foundation.
Missy Owen of the Davis Direction Foundation at The Zone, a recovery support organization, knows how hard Cobb County was hit by the opioid crisis.
"We had 56,000-plus people come through last year and served meals and showers and laundry, had meetings and recovery coaching. All those things cost money but nobody that comes to The Zone pays for services," said Owen.
The Zone pays for all of this through grants, foundation and private funding, donations, two thrift stores and a retail gift shop, but now Owen hopes she'll get some of the money that Cobb County received in opioid settlements.
"We've been very aggressive when it comes to going after these companies and lawsuits, and we've settled with about eight firms so far, and have $6 million in the bank," said Ross Cavitt, the communications director for Cobb County.
The Cobb County Opioid Abatement Council was formed to determine the best way to spend the money and determined 42 percent should be spent on treatment services, 22 percent on prevention programs, 21 percent on recovery support services and the rest on harm reduction.
"They've taken in a lot of community input to determine how bad the problem is in the county and the ways we can mitigate it to help people moving forward," said Cavitt.
Now organizations like The Zone, and nonprofits, can apply for that money.
"Those funds are going to be instrumental in helping us keep moving in the right direction to helping people stay in recovery. The more people we can serve, the more people we can save," said Owen.
Currently, Cobb County has about 6 million dollars to spend, and this amount could significantly increase over the next 18 years as additional lawsuits are settled, but for now, they're trying to get that money out into the community to help the opioid crisis.