Opioid Settlement Case Studies: Real Programs, Budgets & Outcomes
This library documents how communities across the country are using opioid settlement and abatement funds to expand prevention, treatment, recovery, and overdose prevention services. Each case study profiles a single program in a single jurisdiction and details its funding, partners, design, and outcomes, from same-day buprenorphine care in Burlington, Vermont, to a rural walk-in recovery center in Walker County, Alabama.
Use the filters to sort by settlement category, service type, population served, community type, state, and annual funding, then open any profile to review the budget, results, and lessons learned. Each model is presented as a reference point rather than a prescription, so you can adapt the elements that fit your community's needs and capacity.
Dedicated Prison Social Workers From Screening to Reentry
1,928 people in 12 Virginia prisons were served in 2025-2026 by settlement-funded social workers who carry substance use care from screening through release.
Naloxone Distribution Mapped to Local Overdose Data
Alamance County, NC tracks every naloxone dose by zip code, sending staff with a wagon to motel corridors and placing vending machines where overdoses cluster.
Bmore POWER: Peer Street Outreach at 12 Weekly Neighborhood Sites
In Baltimore, MD, a street outreach team staffed entirely by people with lived and living experience holds weekly sites and moves in when overdoses cluster.
Walk-In Recovery Centers Across Seven Rural Counties
More than 6,000 people walked into a Lee County, KY recovery center since 2022, and the model now runs across seven rural counties on $865K in settlement awards.
Practical Needs First at a Peer-Run Recovery Hub
622 people were referred to detox, treatment and sober living in one year by peers at a Jonesboro, AR drop-in center built on a two-year, $250,000 settlement award.
Recovery-Friendly Workplace Certification for Employers
124 employers across 25 Colorado counties signed on to a recovery-friendly certification, built on a $500,000 opioid settlement infrastructure award.
Free Take-Home Naloxone at Emergency Departments
54 Virginia emergency departments now hand patients a free naloxone kit at discharge, with settlement funds covering the one cost no payer reimburses.
Peer-Led Jail Recovery with Free Outpatient Handoff
80% of participants in a rural northwest Kansas jail class were still in recovery a year later, on $500,000 in opioid settlement awards across two cycles.
Free App for Naloxone Response and Overdose Reporting
A free Arkansas app walks bystanders through naloxone in English, Spanish, and Marshallese and logs the save, built for $296,000 and $8,750 a year to run.
The Recovery Den: Rural Walk-In Center
Peer mentors in Walker County, AL logged 2,498 service visits in 2025 at a walk-in recovery center that runs on a $150K settlement award, no appointment needed.
Police-Led Youth Drug Prevention Curriculum
27 of 28 Virginia Beach school resource officers now teach the LEAD drug prevention curriculum in local classrooms, funded entirely by a $140K settlement award.
Rapid Responders & Community Programs Continuum
In Wake County, NC, Healing Transitions sends peer and EMS responders to overdose survivors within 24 to 72 hours, when re-engagement is most likely.
Campus Naloxone Training and Peer Recovery Model
In two years, the University of Central Arkansas trained 874 people in overdose response through the ARORP naloxone hero program and served 294 through peer recovery on a $202K settlement award.
Multidisciplinary Homeless Response Team
Lawrence, KS reduced unsheltered homelessness from more than 200 people in 2023 to under 20 by early 2026, with a six-person peer-led street outreach team supported in 2025 by a $200K opioid settlement award.