June 10: Cincinnati City Council, Public Safety & Governance Committee
Covered by Documenter Diane Gaither-Thompson (notes)
Last week, the Cincinnati Public Safety and Government committee heard a presentation from the Hamilton County Office of Addiction Response. The presentation showed where settlement money is going from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, the nonprofit acting as a pass-through entity for those dollars.
Hamilton County will receive approximately $26 million over the next 18 years, with Cincinnati receiving approximately $8.5 million as its share, explained Meagan Guthrie, director of the Addiction Response Office.
The settlements come as the county reports lower rates of overdose deaths. However, Guthrie said the public should be aware that substance abuse and related mental health concerns are still very prevalent.
“We’re starting to stabilize … but the work certainly continues,” she said. “We are seeing progress, which is good.”
Where is opioid settlement money going in Hamilton County?
In 2017, then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine started suing drug manufacturers and distributors of opioids on allegations of fueling the opioid crisis. As of April 2025, the state has received $236 million in settlements from that litigation, and is slated to receive close to $2 billion total over 18 years.
Thirty percent of those funds are distributed directly to local governments across the state through OneOhio. Those funds are then allocated to area programs that specialize in addiction treatment, recovery supports and prevention.
In May, the city and county executed an intergovernmental agreement that calls for a joint process to ensure grant awards aren’t duplicated. This round of grant funding, approximately $3.9 million, will be allotted to 14 projects over a two-year period.
The following organizations and agencies were awarded grants:
- First Step Home: $500,000
- Hamilton County Coroner’s Office: $60,000
- Talbert House: $650,000
- Serenity Recovery Network: $240,900
- University of Cincinnati Early Intervention Program: $296,332
- Addiction Services Council: $400,000
- The LIT Movement: $100,000
- Easterseals Tristate: $321,704
- HER Cincinnati: $400,000
- Joseph House: $100,000
- GLAD House: $200,000
- YMCA of Greater Cincinnati: $300,000
- From Fatherless to Fearless: $240,000
- A1 Stigma Free Coalition: $90,000
Council Member Scotty Johnson asked Guthrie whether organizations like the Center for Addiction Treatment (CAT House) could apply for funds. Guthrie said organizations could make such a request.
Addiction remains ongoing concern despite drop in overdose deaths
Guthrie noted there has been about a 30% decrease in overdoses in Hamilton County in January to May over the same period in 2024. However, addiction remains an ongoing concern, especially in black communities.
Black Hamilton County residents continue to experience higher mortality rates compared to white residents, with a “very stark” increase from 2019 into 2020, Guthrie said. The state reported a 35% increase in overdose deaths among black Ohioans at that time, in large part due to drugs being laced with fentanyl.
The Walnut Hills ZIP code has seen the most overdoses among black residents in the state of Ohio, Guthrie said, and a shared responsibility in meeting the problem head-on may improve services and outcomes to such communities.
“We have seen overdoses decline in both African American and white communities, but they are still dying at a higher rate than their white counterparts,” she said.
It would take about $8 million to fully address the problem, Guthrie told the committee.
Documenter Diane Gaither-Thompson, who covered this meeting, had this follow-up question:
- Although there is a formal process for allocation of funds, will small, local organizations get funds? I’m thinking of CAT House, for example.
Read more from on this meeting from Documenter Diane Gaither-Thompson:
