The Moore County Board of Commissioners heard a report Tuesday from County Manager Wayne Vest on the work of the Opioid Settlement Task Force and the county’s use of settlement funds.
Vest said Moore County is projected to receive $11.7 million through 2038 from the national opioid settlement. The funds are front-loaded, with the county already receiving more than $4 million, including interest, which is held in a dedicated special revenue account.
According to Vest, funding decisions are made by the commissioners and then reviewed by the Opioid Task Force, which assesses requests and measures outcomes. Commissioners John Ritter and Tom Adams serve on the task force, which evaluates applications from community partners. Allocations have already been made to several local organizations, including FirstHealth, the Boys and Girls Club of the Sandhills, Samaritan Colony, and Sandhills Adult and Teen Challenge.
Commissioners focused much of Tuesday’s discussion on early intervention programs and the challenge of meeting strict settlement guidelines.
The Boys and Girls Club program, designed to reach at-risk youth, was used as an example. Vest said regulations prevent the county from funding broad-based early intervention, instead requiring targeted services for specific high-risk children.
“We wanted to spread this message to as many kids as possible,” said Ritter, speaking from experience working with the task force. “Every child is at risk today. But there are so many strings attached that you can’t even do the good things you want to do.”
To work around those limits, the county funded staff support at the Boys and Girls Club through the settlement while expanding its reach through general fund dollars. Vest said this arrangement allowed the program to continue operating as originally intended.
Commissioner Nick Picerno is seeking stronger accountability, requesting quarterly reports on the number of people served and the expenditure of funds. “We’re responsible for this,” Picerno said. “I know people are doing good with it, but we need the numbers to show it.”
Vest responded that contracts already require annual reports with outcome data, but he agreed quarterly reviews could be considered. Adams added that the process is still relatively new and that county staff have been working closely with the recipients to ensure compliance.
The commissioners spoke particularly passionately about early prevention, which is something the task force has been adamant about in the past.
Picerno, who shared that he himself has lost a child to addiction, argued for programs in middle and high schools. He would like to see more effort go into preventing addiction than trying to remedy it after a person has already been introduced to substance abuse.
Commissioner Jim Von Canon agreed, saying prevention could save “millions and millions” in hospital and recovery costs. Adams drew a comparison to school-based efforts to curb smoking, which he considers a proven model for success.
Vest noted that of the current partners, Samaritan Colony, Sandhills Adult and Teen Challenge, and FirstHealth have already volunteered to work in schools without wanting any additional compensation.
Picerno urged that the county maximize settlement dollars for prevention efforts. “It’s not tax dollars; it’s money coming from companies in a settlement,” he said. “Spend it, use it for what it’s meant for. Let’s put common sense back in Moore County, and it’ll save lives—the EMS, the police officers, the kids themselves. Save these kids.”
Vest himself vocalized his support. “Everybody in this room thinks that from a common sense standpoint, every youth is at risk,” he agreed. “Some children are able to resist peer pressure and the challenges and draws of opioids more than others, but they’re all at risk. We want to find out how to use more of the money.”
The discussion also touched on the countrywide impact of opioid abuse and other substance abuse disorders. Picerno pointed to rising suicide calls linked to substance abuse, and Von Canon recalled that Moore County has lost students to addiction before graduation.
Before closing the discussion, Chairman Kurt Cook added that many parents remain unaware of the risks their children face and stressed the need for parental education and testimony from those in recovery. He was in favor of speakers visiting schools and even offering evening and nighttime lectures so that students and their parents could both attend.
“Bring a subject matter expert into these schools,” encouraged Cook. “Get a guy or a gal who went through it for proof that you can come back from it if you want to. You can recover, and you can get help.”
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~ Article and photo by Sandhills Sentinel Assistant Editor Abegail Murphy. Abegail has been writing for Sandhills Sentinel since 2021.
