The Pierce County Finance & Personnel Committee voted April 7 to recommend three uses to the full Pierce County Board for the county’s opioid settlement funds.

The state of Wisconsin received more than $780 million in funding through 2038 as a result of national litigation against the pharmaceutical industry. According to Pierce County Opioid Ad Hoc Committee meeting minutes from Feb. 26, Pierce County has $551,901.93 in settlement funds in the bank. Based on projections from Attolles Law firm, the county could receive $1.17 million depending on future settlements.

The county’s opioid ad hoc committee, formed in January 2023, recommended three projects for Pierce County’s funds: Parent recovery cafes, Deterra drug deactivation and disposal bags, and Family Centered Treatment Recovery programming.

The parent recovery cafes, according to an F&P memo, are small group meetings in which parents and caregivers can talk about the challenges of raising a family and being in recovery. A staff person co-facilitates the safe space gatherings with an individual with lived experience.

“There is emerging national research that indicates that Parent Recovery Cafes help parent protective factors which reduces child maltreatment, motivates families to become more involved in their community and their child’s school, and supports individuals in their recovery,” an F&P memo states.

The committee is asking for funding up to $5,000 per year for the recovery cafes.

F&P agreed to recommend $950 toward the purchase of Deterra drug deactivation and disposal bags, which aid communities in proper drug disposal. The bags work by absorbing medications by activated carbon, which makes the medications no longer viable for abuse or extraction. They become chemically and biologically inert and inactive and can therefore be safely thrown in the trash. The Pierce County Public Health Department would distribute the bags.

Lastly, the committee will recommend using $55,000 annually for up to three years to fund Family Centered Treatment Recovery, an intensive, in-home therapy program for families with medium-to-high needs that have a possibility of children being removed from the home. Pierce County Human Services has been offering this program the past three years and according to committee notes, “has had great success with the model with improving family functioning.” The funding would allow the county to purchase more curriculum to add intensive substance use recovery components. A Duke University study has shown the program’s success in addressing addiction leading to lasting recoveries. Once the program is up and running, costs should decrease significantly, the memo stated.

The Pierce County Board will vote on the recommendation at its April 15 meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m.