The Office of the County Manager of Douglas County, Colorado, hereinafter referred to as the County, respectfully requests information/qualifications from experienced and highly qualified individuals and/or firms to provide professional facilitation services for the Opioid Regional Council.
In August 2021, after 18 months of discussions, the Attorney General and local government leaders agreed to a joint framework for distributing the funds Colorado stands to receive from litigation settlements to address the opioid crisis. All 64 counties and almost all municipalities signed onto the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); this broad participation ensured Colorado will receive its maximum share (approximately $385 million) of funding from legal settlements reached with Johnson & Johnson and the nation’s three largest drug distribution companies that fueled the opioid crisis.
The joint framework will also govern the distribution of any funds from future opioid settlements. Colorado is one of the first states to reach this critical local government participation threshold and maximize its settlement payments. The joint framework is structured according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Colorado Department of Law and all counties, municipalities, towns, and county and city municipal corporations in the state that agree to the framework even if they have not filed lawsuits against opioid manufacturers or others for their role in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic. Most of the opioid settlement proceeds go directly to 19 regions (Douglas County is a single county region) and local governments for opioid abatement purposes such as drug treatment, recovery, prevention and education, and appropriate harm reduction programs.
