Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee

Interested in joining the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee?

Rhode Island is seeking a community member and a subject-matter expert to join the committee. The deadline to apply for one of these vacancies closes on March 11, 2024 at 5 p.m. Click here to learn more and apply.

In January 2022, Rhode Island joined the national opioid settlement with three major opioid distributors,  providing over $90 million in funding for state and local efforts to address Rhode Island’s opioid crisis. Together with settlements secured by Attorney General Neronha against opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson for $21 million and consulting firm McKinsey & Co. for $2.5 million, Rhode Island’s opioid litigation recoveries total more than $114 million over the next 18 years.

Rhode Island’s newly announced agreement with all of the state’s cities and towns ensures that all the funds will be directed to opioid abatement – including expanding access to opioid use disorder prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery. Under the agreement:

  • 20% of the funds secured for abatement will go directly to all cities and towns based on a population-driven formula to be used solely for opioid abatement purposes.

  • 80% of the funds secured for abatement will be overseen by the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services and allocated to opioid abatement programs throughout the state.  In making these allocations, the Secretary of EOHHS will be informed by recommendations of an Advisory Committee, all subject to the state appropriations process.

The Advisory Committee, as required by the national settlement agreement, will be comprised of an equal number of state and municipal representatives, as well as expert and community representatives and will work closely with key organizations coordinating the state’s response to the crisis, including the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force.

For more details, read the Opioid Settlement Funded Project Overview as of October 20, 2023.

Contact the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee at OHHS.OpioidSettlement@ohhs.ri.gov

Settlement Documents

Attachment A Opioid Payments to Date 6.2.23

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Member List

  • Appointed Chairperson
    • Carrie Bridges-Feliz, Vice President of Community Health and Equity
  • State Agency Representatives
    • Louis Cerbo – Acting Director of BHDDH
    • Dr. Philip Chan, Consultant Medical Director, Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH)
    • Deputy Attorney General Adi Goldstein, Office of the Attorney General
    • Senator Joshua Miller, Rhode Island Senate
    • State Court Administrator Julie Hamil, Rhode Island Supreme Court
    • Representative Raymond Hull, Rhode Island House of Representatives
  • County Representatives
    • Bristol County: Kate Michaud - Town Manager, Town of Warren
    • Kent County: Robert Houghtaling - Director of Substance Abuse Prevention and Mental Health Services, East Greenwich
    • Newport County: Joseph Pratt - Executive Director and CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of Newport County
    • Providence County: Todd Manni - Director of Emergency Management & Community Outreach, Town of Smithfield
    • Washington County: Chief Matthew Moynihan - Police Chief, South Kingstown
    • City of Providence: Rachel Ferrara – Data & Evaluation Manager at the City of Providence’s Healthy Communities Office
  • Community
    • Angela Ankoma - Vice President, Equity Leadership, Rhode Island Foundation
    • Ernesto Figueroa - Community Liaison, Discovery House and Business Development, Acadia Health Care
  • Experts
    • Dennis Bailer - Overdose Prevention Program Director, Project Weber/RENEW
    • Dr. Justin Berk - Medical Director, Rhode Island Department of Corrections
    • Dr. Brandon Marshall - Associate Professor, Brown University

Process

  • Under this agreement, the  Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) is serving as the coordinating state agency for the planning related to and use of these settlement funds.

  • As part of the established Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) within the settlement, an Advisory Committee that will advise EOHHS on the use and distribution of the funds will be formed and held publicly.

  • The Community and Expert positions will be determined by the appointed members of the Advisory Committee in accordance with the MOU.

  • A Non-Voting Committee Chairperson will be appointed by the Governor.

Annual Reports

OSAC Annual Report-2023

OSAC Annual Report-2022

Meeting Materials

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - January 30, 2024

2024 OSAC Meeting Schedule

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - November 30, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - October 26, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - August 24, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - July 19, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – June 22, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – May 17, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – April 27, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – March 15, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – January 18, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – December 22, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – November 29, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – October 27, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – September 16, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – August 25, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - July 21, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck - June 20, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Funding Recommendations by Pillar Alignment - June 20, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – May 23, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Meeting Deck – April 29, 2022

Other References and Resources

Opioid Settlement Funds:  What Rhode Island Cities and Towns Need to Know

Session 1: Workshop for Municipal Leaders: Using Overdose Data to Drive Action

Session 2: The Stigma of Substance Use: Its Impact and What You Can Do

Session 3: Data Driven Initiatives: Examples from the Community 

Data-Informed Strategies for Local Overdose Prevention

Rhode Island Overdose Prevention & Response Resources

Rhode Island Statewide Opioid Abatement Account: SFY2023 Report to the Governor, Legislature, and Attorney General – January 3, 2023

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee - Calendar Year 2023 Meeting Schedule

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee – Official State Fiscal Year 2023 Recommendations

Words Matter: Recommended Language Guide

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Approved Funding Priorities - July 2022

Letter from EOHHS Secretary Ana P. Novais to the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee – July 18, 2022

Governor’s Overdose Prevention & Intervention Task Force Working Groups’ Funding Priorities – May 19, 2022

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Invitation Letter from EOHHS Secretary Womazetta Jones (February 16, 2022)

Press Release: Attorney General Neronha, State and Municipal Leaders Announce Settlement with Opioid Distributors, Bringing Rhode Island’s Opioid Litigation Recoveries to over $114 Million

Website: Prevent Overdose RI

Evidence Update Report- Overdose Task Force, February 2021

Addiction and Overdose Evidence Update Presentation, February 24, 2021

Additional Settlements

Press Release: Attorney General announces additional opioid settlements valued at morer than $100 million against manufacturers Teva and Allergan

Press Release: Rhode Island to receive $2.59 million as part of multi-state settlement with McKinsey  Co. for the firm's role in "turbocharging" the opioid epidemic