Updates on ARORP opioid settlement funds
Story by Kirk Lane, Tenesha Barnes, Colin Jorgensen
In just short of two years, the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership (ARORP) has distributed more than $26.3 million in opioid settlement dollars to all 75 counties. Settlement dollars are making an impact in schools, hospitals, treatment centers, religious organizations, pharmacies, drug task forces, sober living facilities, and recovery community organizations. Over 140 local community partners have received funding to make a difference in their counties.
In 2024, the state received uplifting news: overdose fatalities are decreasing in Arkansas. From 2022 to 2023, the number of fatal overdoses in Arkansas decreased by 13.7 percent. While this is a marker to celebrate, there is much more to be done. Every person who dies by overdose in Arkansas leaves behind family, friends, and even entire communities in devastation.
ARORP has been in operation since November 2022 when the Arkansas Municipal League (AML) and the Association of Arkansas Counties (AAC) formed a partnership to distribute opioid settlement dollars. Over the next 10 to 15 years, Arkansas’ cities and counties will continue to receive opioid settlement funding to abate and alleviate the impact of Arkansas’ opioid epidemic.
Impact of opioid settlement dollars
Since November 2022, ARORP has funded 142 projects in all 75 counties. This $26 million has funded:
384 beds for people in active recovery
26 prevention and education programs
Approximately 60,000 kits of naloxone
11 Overdose Response Teams (ORTs)
35 peer recovery specialists
In the first six months of 2024, ARORP produced a quarterly report on its impact from January to June 2024. In this time frame:
228 families were reunited
2,947 people were provided recovery support who have an opioid nexus
247 people were provided sober living housing on average each quarter
568 people found a job
323 people received official documentation, like a driver’s license or birth certificate
8,513 one-on-one recovery support meetings were held
2,107 mental health counseling sessions were provided
731 group counseling sessions were provided
2,766 naloxone doses were distributed (86,448 to date)
Each of these projects has made a profound impact on the cities and counties they serve. One program in particular, the Coalition Partnership Empowerment Project (COPE), successfully trained 13 partner organizations to develop community coalitions and apply for suitability, bringing more federal prevention dollars into Arkansas.
Applications funded
Prevention & Education
Recognizing the critical importance of prevention, ARORP has invested over $3 million of the total $26 million in prevention efforts over the past two years. This funding has supported coalitions, provided education, and implemented prevention programs and curricula. National data shows that every dollar spent on prevention can save $11 in future treatment and recovery costs. Based on this calculation, ARORP’s investment could potentially save over $33 million in treatment and recovery expenses, not to mention the unquantifiable physical and emotional suffering prevented for individuals and families impacted by opioid addiction.
Naloxone
In 2022, ARORP created the Arkansas Naloxone Bank. Naloxone Community Heroes are organizations that apply for credit to use at the Naloxone Bank to receive naloxone for distribution to families and others in need. Heroes host naloxone training and equip every trainee with a free naloxone kit.
In 2024, ARORP has 79 Naloxone Community Hero projects. Since 2022, community organizations and law enforcement have disbursed $2,021,511.48 in naloxone, totaling 86,448 doses altogether.
Family Support
You may have already heard about Hope Movement Coalition, an organization offering family support to Arkansans who have lost a loved one to an overdose. Hope Movement hosts Bridge the Gap, an overdose awareness event, annually in August. When an Arkansan dies by overdose, Hope Movement reaches out to their family and partners them with someone who has been in their shoes. They also offer funeral assistance, legal assistance for grandparents gaining legal guardianship, social service connections, and more. Hope Movement has been funded $1,011,030.00 to span two years.
Research and Reporting
To support data collection on all ARORP projects, ARORP has funded the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center (WYSAC) $398,087.00 to create a system to capture data for all ARORP projects. In addition, WYSAC will produce an annual evaluation to show the outcomes of projects funded by settlement dollars. Understanding the importance of transparency, WYSAC will also conduct a unique transparency evaluation for ARORP to ensure that citizens stay abreast of spending. Earlier this year, the ARORP executive team approved a new Sentinel project to improve data collection across the state.
Overdose Investigation
ARORP has funded 12 Overdose Response Teams (ORTs), which partner an overdose investigator with a peer recovery specialist to decrease substance misuse in their jurisdiction. Peer recovery specialists can intervene with people suffering from substance use disorder to get them into treatment. The investigator, on the other hand, can target people responsible for overdoses in Arkansas.
Treatment
ARORP has funded five treatment programs totaling $2.5 million across Desha, Van Buren, Franklin, Sevier, Logan, and Pulaski counties. In Desha County, Delta Memorial Hospital purchased a small, outpatient treatment facility to provide Medication-Assisted Treatment to residents in surrounding counties. Other funded programs include Horizon Renewal Center in Logan County, Natural State Recovery Outpatient Treatment in Pulaski County, True Self Recovery in Van Buren and Franklin counties, and Sevier County Sheriff’s Department in Sevier County, which offers a variety of treatment and recovery services.
Recovery Housing
ARORP has funded 281 men’s recovery beds and 103 women’s recovery beds for a total of 384 beds. These projects serve people statewide and are located in Johnson, Logan, Sebastian, Independence, Lonoke, Pulaski, Faulkner, Perry, Boone, White, Arkansas, Miller, Hempstead, and Little River counties.
Peer Recovery Specialists
Peer recovery specialists are certified professionals with lived experience with substance misuse recovery. By meeting people where they are, peers are trained to provide support to people in active addiction. ARORP has funded peers in hospitals, detention centers, and crisis stabilization units. In addition, peers are a part of many projects with ARORP. This evidence-based solution is a great way to get more people into recovery.
Project Spotlight: Coalition Partnership Empowerment (COPE) Coalitions
In 2023, ARORP announced the Coalition Partnership Empowerment (COPE) project. For this project, ARORP partnered with CADCA to create a training that helps coalitions prepare to apply for the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant. ARORP had 13 community coalitions apply for and receive funding from ARORP. The COPE coalitions attended CADCA’s Opioid Coalition Academy. Out of the 13 new Arkansas community coalitions, seven were approved for the DFC grant. This will bring over $4 million dollars back to their communities across the next five years, and the seven coalitions will be eligible to extend the DFC grants for an additional five years after that.
“This phenomenal achievement by ARORP, COPE and CADCA highlights the power of possibilities that we realize in partnership,” said retired Maj. Gen. Barrye L. Price, president and CEO of CADCA. “These seven community-based coalitions just became self-sustainable with this federal recognition, and everyone involved should be extremely proud.”
ARORP’s goal with the COPE project is to multiply the number of coalitions in Arkansas by providing them the foundation to sustain themselves. “We are eager to see how our investment will positively impact the state and further its prevention efforts,” said ARORP Director Kirk Lane. “This accomplishment marks a major step forward in combating substance misuse in the state, and we are fortunate to be part of these coalitions’ success stories.”
Project Spotlight: Sentinel Project
The ARORP Sentinel Project is designed to be an early warning system to detect dangerous and deadly substances in Arkansas’ cities and counties’ drug supplies. In this project, ARORP will create partnerships with organizations that serve on the frontlines of the fight against opioids: school districts, college campuses, and state and local law enforcement agencies.
Selected partners will receive and utilize TruNarc Handheld Analyzers to conduct field-based presumptive exams of suspected narcotics, precursors, and cutting agents. Each partner must report data to the Arkansas State Drug Director. With that data, the State Drug Director’s Office will publish a quarterly report regarding findings. Through this report, Arkansas cities and counties can begin to receive region-specific data informing the status of opioids and other dangerous substances in their communities.
On Aug. 1, 2024, the Sentinel Project was announced. Since its announcement, there have been 10 approved applications and 14 applications in total. This proposal is currently seeking applicants from school districts and college campuses specifically. We have eight partners in law enforcement, one school district, and one college campus spread around the state.
Project Spotlight: Life Care Specialist
In March of this year, ARORP released the Life Care Specialist application. The Christopher Wolf Crusade (CwC) developed the Life Care Specialist (LCS) healthcare position to educate patients and prevent misuse. The LCSs are integrated members of healthcare teams who fight the American opioid epidemic by providing alternative pain management and mental wellness solutions for patients in need.
When ARORP learned of this new healthcare position, they saw the need for this program in Arkansas. Partnered with the CwC, ARORP released the Life Care Specialist application, which allows hospitals in need to apply for an LCS.
Project Spotlight: ReviveAR
In February, ARORP released ReviveAR, an app designed to prevent and treat opioid abuse in Arkansas. ReviveAR is available for free download in the Google and Apple app stores. The ReviveAR app serves as a resource for community members, offering a variety of features. Users can learn how to identify a drug overdose and how to administer Naloxone. They can also access resources for overdose prevention, recovery and family support, locations across the state for Drug Take Back disposals to safely dispose of unused or expired drugs, and the ARORP website.
2025 and Beyond
In 2025 and beyond, ARORP will continue to thoughtfully invest the counties’ and cities’ opioid settlement funding in evidence-based abatement projects in your communities. We’d like to remind county judges that your signature of support is required along with the application for any proposed project that would serve people in your county (and signatures of mayors are also required for projects intended to serve first-class cities). Your input is valuable, and we welcome detailed feedback in your letter of support or by phone. We encourage everyone to follow ARORP on social media for details about ongoing and future education opportunities, events, celebrations, and ARORP/project updates. And as always, we thank you for leading on behalf of your communities and families, and uniting in response to the Arkansas opioid epidemic, so we can work together with common purpose to save and restore lives in your communities and families.
