Op-Ed: The OneOhio Recovery Foundation will safeguard the public’s interest in opioid settlement money
OneOhio Recovery Foundation Board Chair Kathryn Whittington authored the following op-ed in the Plain Dealer. You can read it on their website (here)
Thanks to the unprecedented leadership and cooperation among state and local leaders, Ohio will receive more than $800 million from legal settlements with companies in the pharmaceutical supply chain to help address the opioid epidemic.
State and local governments will receive 45% of these funds for immediate relief, treatment, recovery and prevention. The other 55% — approximately $450 million — will be managed by the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, a newly created private, nonprofit corporation charged with distributing funds for local relief, recovery and prevention efforts, as well as creating an endowment to fund future needs.
As a mother and grandmother whose family has been impacted by addiction, I know firsthand how devastating the opioid epidemic has been on Ohioans. I am also a local government official whose community is working hard to maximize resources and solutions to help individuals and their families struggling with substance-use disorders. It’s from this standpoint that I was appointed to the OneOhio Recovery Foundation’s board of directors and chosen to be its chairperson. Many of my 28 fellow board members have lived and shared experiences with the epidemic, as well. Our work isn’t just our civic duty, it has a deep personal meaning, also. We are fully committed to the Foundation’s mission of treatment, prevention and recovery.
The Foundation’s first meeting was in May and since that time, our work has focused on the essential tasks of any new organization — building a team, getting a bank account, establishing governance policies and seeing to all the other administrative necessities. Though important, this work never goes fast. Like my fellow board members, I am impatient to start distributing funds to the local level. Given the importance of our work, the vast sums of money we will manage for the benefit of Ohioans impacted by substance-use disorders, and the need to make sure these funds last far into the future, things cannot be foolishly rushed. It is essential that careful, deliberate attention be paid to every detail of setting up the Foundation and its operations. That includes making sure that processes are in place to ensure that it effectively communicates with the public.
That’s important for the sake of transparency and the public’s confidence, but also so that those organizations that may be interested in applying for funds eventually know how to do that. The Foundation has worked to provide space – both virtually and in person – for members of the public to watch past board meetings. Soon, we will have the necessary tools in place so Ohioans interested may more easily tune into board meetings online and receive important updates from the Foundation. I am glad to report that all of this important work is in motion now and will continually evolve as we move forward.
With the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, Ohioans now have a chance to permanently fund substance-use treatment, prevention and recovery in a manner that is immune to the ups and downs of politics and public budgets. The reason is that the Foundation is not a government agency. By having the state’s opioid settlement funds managed by a private foundation — and done so with the transparency consistent with its charitable mission -- Ohio will have the ability to preserve and deploy the resources to unceasingly and unrelentingly save lives in ways we have never been able to do before. It is an innovative approach that helps us put this important mission above politics.
As we have unfortunately had to learn so many times in the epidemic, taking on addiction requires communities and families to come together. There is no room for divisiveness or politics. We are all impacted by this disease and we must all lean into the fight if we are to make progress, end it and prevent its recurrence. It is admittedly a tall order. The OneOhio Recovery Foundation is the vehicle for our state to come together and take it on. Comprised of diverse voices from across the state and organized for efficiency and the long term, together we will bring Ohioans what they need: relief, recovery, prevention and, yes, justice.
