Opioid Settlements
California Abatement Accounts Fund
Allocations from the CA Abatement Accounts Fund must be expended on future opioid remediation activities focused on prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services in California communities. The CA Abatement Accounts Funds will be used for future Opioid Remediation in one or more of the areas described in the List of Opioid Remediation Uses, which is
Exhibit E to the National Opioid Settlement Agreements.
California state officials, in partnership with counsel representing cities and counties, further agreed on a list of opioid remediation activities to prioritize within the State of California. These priorities are referred to as High Abatement Activities (HIAA). No less than 50% of the funds received by a CA Participating Subdivision from the Abatement Accounts Fund in each calendar year will be used for one or more of the following HIAA listed below:
California High Impact Abatement Activities (HIAA)
- Provision of matching funds or operation costs for substance use disorder facilities with an approved project within the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP).
- Creating new or expanded substance use disorder (SUD) treatment infrastructure.
- Addressing the needs of communities of color and vulnerable populations (including sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations) that are disproportionately impacted by SUD.
- Communities of color include racial and/or ethnic minorities. Vulnerable populations include, but are not limited to, individuals with limited or no access to health care, individuals experiencing adversities related to socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and/or mental health conditions, unhoused individuals, pregnant and parenting individuals, and/or at-risk children and youth
- Diversion of people with SUD from the justice system into treatment, including by providing training and resources to first and early responders (sworn and non-sworn) and implementing best practices for outreach, diversion and deflection, employability, restorative justice, and harm reduction.
- Diversion is a term used to describe intervention approaches that redirect individuals with an SUD away from formal processing in criminal justice settings and into treatment, recovery, and/or other support services. Diversion strategies include prearrest, pre-arraignment, and pre-trial activities aimed at directing an individual towards a treatment or care program as an alternative to imprisonment. Activities related to interdiction or criminal investigation, apprehension, and processing are not considered diversion.
- Interventions to prevent drug addiction in vulnerable youth.
- Intervention is a term used to define specific activities that reduce the risk of vulnerable youth developing an SUD. Vulnerable youth include but are not limited to youth in foster care, juvenile justice-impacted youth, youth from communities of color, and/or experiencing adversities related to socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, mental health conditions, pregnant and parenting youth, and unhoused youth.
- The purchase of naloxone for distribution and efforts to expand access to naloxone for opioid overdose reversals.
Pursuant to the National Opioid Settlements, qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses (indirect costs) incurred in distributing allocations for approved uses. Total indirect costs for a Participating Subdivision and its funded subrecipients shall be reasonable and related to an allowable opioid remediation activity. Indirect costs should not exceed actual costs or ten (10) percent of the total allocation, whichever is less.
California Subdivision Fund
Pursuant to the California State-Subdivision Agreements, allocations from the CA Subdivision Fund shall be used to fund future opioid remediation projects and reimburse past opioid-related expenses, which may include fees and expenses related to litigation against a relevant Opioid Defendant. DHCS encourages Participating Subdivisions receiving allocations from the CA Subdivision Fund to review the list of eligible opioid remediation activities and strategies in
Exhibit E of the National Opioid Settlement Agreements. For more information, Participating Subdivisions can review
BHIN 24-003 California Plaintiff Subdivision Use of Opioid Settlement Funds Allocated from the California Subdivision Fund.
Non-Opioid Remediation Use Clarification
Pursuant to the California State-Subdivision Agreements, Participating Subdivisions are not permitted to use CA Subdivision funds or CA Abatement Accounts funds for non-opioid remediation uses.
Participating Subdivisions receiving CA Subdivision funds may use those funds to reimburse past opioid-related expenses, which may include fees and expenses related to opioid litigation. Participating Subdivisions using CA Subdivision Funds on past litigation fees must be reported to the
National Settlement Administrator BrownGreer, PLC.
For more information on Non-Opioid Remediation Use Reports, please review the
FAQs.
Opioid Bankruptcies
Local Government Share
Local Government allocations from the Mallinckrodt and Endo Bankruptcies must be expended on opioid remediation activities focused on prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services in California communities. Local Governments can find the list of eligible opioid remediation activities and strategies in Exhibit 4 of the Mallinckrodt Bankruptcy Plan or Exhibit 6 of the Endo Public Trust Agreement (otherwise known as
Exhibit E in the National Opioid Settlement Agreements).
Local Governments may also use a portion of their funds to pay for reasonable related administrative expenses incurred in administering their allocations for approved uses. Indirect costs more than five (5) percent are not allowed pursuant to the
California Mallinckrodt Statewide Abatement Agreement. Indirect costs are not capped in the Endo Public Trust Agreement.
