Delaware’s opioid abatement funding distribution process could resume in March after being on hold for seven months amid fraud concerns.
After opioid settlement recipient Code Purple was flagged for misusing grant funds in June, the Prescription Opioid Settlement Distribution Commission (POSDC) decided to halt all funding disbursment until grant distribution procedures could be reviewed.
POSDC oversees the distribution of funds through Delaware's Opioid Abatement and Remediation Grant Program, which focuses on funding overdose reversal medication, supporting those in addiction treatment, funding media campaigns to prevent opioid misuse and treating opioid disorders.
Delaware has received over $71 million to date through opioid settlement cases and has distributed just over $12.5 million to organizations in the addiction treatment space since the settlement fund's inception.
Code Purple was awarded $290,000 from the settlement fund, and following the flagged misuse, Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced the Delaware Department of Justice (DOJ) would be clawing back those funds.
The commission hired outside contractor Social Contract to conduct an analysis on how to bolster grant criteria and applications, and the first phase of recommendations were adopted in October.
POSDC Governance Committee Chair Dave Humes says his subgroup is finalizing a manual with all of these new guidelines, and he hopes it will be adopted by the full commission in February.
“I would like to see it approved, and then grant applications go out in early March because by the time the applications go out and they're reviewed and everything, it's going to be a year since this money's been approved. And again, this money does nobody any good sitting in the bank.”
In its latest grant cycle, the commission approved $15 million to be given to organizations to help abate the state’s opioid crisis.
Close to $2 million was approved for bridge funding to existing qualifying grant applicants — which is still being doled out — but the remaining $13 million remains untouched.
"We have distributed $0 of the balance of $13 million that was approved last year to go out in 2024, so whether our aggressive schedule is too aggressive or not to get this money out, I believe we need to do everything we have to do to make sure we meet this aggressive schedule to get these funds out," Humes said.
No public update has been provided on DOJ's investigation into Code Purple, but State Auditor Lydia York announced in July that 12 other grant recipients would be audited for cautionary purposes.
A spokesperson for the auditor's office says those audits are still underway.
Humes hopes to put Code Purple's incident behind the commission, noting his disappointment that all funding was put on hold after one case of potential fraud was found.
"Quite honestly it was $290,000 out of $15 million, and I don't care what level of government we're talking about — there's fraud in little league baseball organizations," Humes said. "We had the initial report from the commission, we had the follow up draft report and we had the preliminary report from Social Contract, and all three of those those documents, if you read through them, the number one priority is to spend money and save lives, and in 2024 we did not spend money to save lives."
Humes has been an advocate in the space for over a decade after losing his son, Greg, to a heroin overdose in 2012.
Acting Gov. Bethany Hall-Long has served as the POSDC's co-chair with Attorney General Kathy Jennings, but it will be up to Governor-elect Matt Meyer to appoint a new leader to the commission during his tenure if opts to keep all other current members.
Humes hopes Meyer leaves the commission intact until at least February, fearful that any shakeups would only delay grant distribution further.
The POSDC Governance Committee holds its next meeting on Jan. 23 at 12 p.m. and the commission's next full-body meeting will be on Feb. 3 at 1 p.m.
